Stargate Atlantis: Inheritance
by TimeWolfBadLord
Summary: If you're bummed about the show ending without a conclusion, this story is for you. Takes place some time after the events of the movie that never was...
1. Prologue

Prologue

Five Years Ago

"There you are," Chanis said as she made her way onto the balcony and to Kala's side. "I've been looking all over for you. I should have known I might find you here though," she grinned. "What are you doing out here?"

"Admiring the view," Kala answered her sister, her eyes never straying from her view of the expansive city that stretched out before her as she stood at the edge of the balcony, her arms braced on the railing. It was a truly incredible sight. For miles and miles the lights of the city stretched out before them in the night. It was a testament to the advancement of their civilization. But none of it was real.

It wasn't a real city, or even a real night's sky, not anymore. Now it was all just an impressive representation of what Kala remembered of her life when she was still of flesh and blood. She was beyond that now. In this plain where she existed now, she and all the others of her kind were able to project whatever images they wished. Of course, the Ascended had no need of a real city, but this was what Kala liked. It was her haven. Here was where she passed the years, looking out at the lives of the living. And here was her favorite viewing station because it reminded her of a home long lost and left behind by her people. But Kala had never forgotten.

She stared off past the city, off into the distance beyond the conjured towers of light and clouds, where she could see the very real, once lost, city of Atlantis. This sight was not a representation of her past but a real-time glimpse into the lives of the living, and she realized, with a knowing smile, a glimpse into a possible future.

Kala had been observing her old home and its new inhabitants for quite some time. And as she watched them now she was filled with a mixed sense of melancholy and hopefulness. She was miserable about what she had to do and yet hopeful for what her sacrifice would mean for the future. Finally, the future she had seen all those thousands of years ago was near.

But if Kala wanted to make that future a reality she knew she would have to play her part. She would have to go against the laws of her people and deceive the one person she loved above everyone and everything else. She would have to give up the life she had grown to appreciate. But she would do it, because the future she saw with her gift ten thousand years ago was a future that she wanted. And she had spent all those years waiting for it.

She'd watched the many civilizations of Earth's history rise and fall, always searching for a sign that her vision of the future was near. And for more years than she cared to watch, nothing ever came of it. And then there was the discovery of the buried Stargate in Gyza and what would be the building blocks of the Stargate program. But still it had taken several more decades for any real developments to pique Kala's interests.

And for the past decade or so the people of Earth and their adventures through the gate had begun to interest her. At first, their endeavors had been only a source of mild entertainment, a diversion from the monotony of Ascended life. But over the last few years it had become more than that for her, they had become more. She saw something in them that she could no longer stand to ignore. And once they'd found Atlantis and engaged the Wraith, a plan had started to form for her. It was a plan that would change the fate of the Pegasus galaxy and right the wrongs of the past. And now it was time to put her plan into action.

"It's time," Kala breathed aloud.

Chanis turned to her sister curiously. "What was that?" she asked.

"We were wrong about them," Kala said, not answering her sister's query and instead nodding her head in the direction of Atlantis.

"What do you mean?" Chanis asked, confusion growing on her face.

Kala turned away from the view and gave her sister an appreciative look before she spoke. "We considered Earth and its people a small blip in the great scheme of the universe. But they prove us wrong time and time again. Just look at all they've accomplished, even in such a short span of time. Even without our help, they've managed to do great things."

"They are persistent. I'll give them that," Chanis conceded.

Kala smiled. "Yes, they are," she agreed.

Chanis looked to her sister. "I know you've always been fascinated by them."

"It's more than that," Kala answered, her picture of the future flashing through her head.

"Really? What is it about them then? Why do you always sneak away to this place to observe them?" They had spent ten thousand years together, but there was still so much about Kala that was a mystery to Chanis. What especially had her baffled was why this place and these people were so important to Kala. Chanis had left all of that behind her ten thousand years ago when they'd Ascended. Kala had never been able to forget it and Chanis had never learned why.

Kala stared off into the distance, thinking carefully about her answer. "They have…" she paused, searching for the right word to describe these humans she'd come to admire. "Heart," she finally settled on, knowing it was the single, most fitting word for them as a people.

"Heart?" Chanis asked dubiously, the expression on her face that of one unconvinced.

Kala couldn't help but to smile. "Yes. Their curiosity led them through the stars. But their heart," she paused, turning once again to look at her sister, "their heart is what kept them going, what got them through. It's what makes them great. They not only explore to expand their own understanding of the universe, they try to help fix all the wrongs they find on their way. Just look at what they've done. They put an end to centuries of tyranny by the Goa'uld. They stopped the Replicators and even helped to finally put an end to the Ori."

"Okay, they show some promise, Kala. But they still have several million years more of evolution to go before they can reach the level of ascension."

Kala shook her head. Chanis still didn't understand. She never had. It was the greatest difference between the two of them. It was what had kept Chanis from reaching her full potential all of these years. Most of the Others didn't understand either, and the ones who did were too afraid of the rest to do anything about it. She had sat back for thousands of years and watched as the Others maintained order among the Ascended, all along knowing that she would one day be one of their problems to be dealt with. Today was that day. And thanks to her gift she'd had the benefit of knowing what was to come and ten thousand years to prepare for it.

When Kala first had her vision all those years ago her people, the Alterans, though on the verge, had not yet reached ascension. But many of them possessed unique abilities. Some could heal others, some could move objects with their minds, and others, like Kala, saw things that had yet to happen. As time moved on all of her glimpses into the future proved to come true, no matter how far into the future they were.

She had never imagined then that this one particular vision would take over ten thousand years to be fulfilled, or that she would have to go to such drastic measures to ensure that it all unfolded as it was meant to. But she had no choice. She was not afraid of the Others. She would stand up to them. She would use their own rules against them to accomplish her goal and help to put the future on the right track.

"Ascension isn't everything," Kala said, turning back to her view. "Soon, sister, you will understand that."

"You really like them, don't you?" Chanis asked surprised. Kala rolled her eyes and Chanis noticed something very off in her sister's body language. "It's more than that even, isn't it?" she asked. She read her answer in Kala's expression and it scared her beyond measure. "You want to help them and go against the Others? Kala, you know you can't."

Kala turned on her. "And why can't I?"

"There are rules. The Others would never allow you to interfere."

"What would I be interfering with Chanis?" Kala pointed out toward Atlantis. "They are only trying to fix the mess that we left behind. The Wraith have preyed on Pegasus for ten thousand years while we just sat back and watched. And they have only been able to do that in the first place because we messed up. We created them and then abandoned Pegasus when the Wraith outmatched us."

"Stop it Kala," Chanis warned, turning her back and stepping away from her sister. "We shouldn't even be speaking of this. If the Others found out there'd be hell to pay. You know this."

"Blast the Others!" she yelled, frustration with Chanis growing with every second.

Chanis gasped as she turned back to her sister, shocked by what she was hearing. Kala had always been a radical among their people, but what she was thinking of doing now was taking it too far. As an Ascended, there was one absolute rule. You do not interfere. All the other beings of the universe had to find their own way, carve their own path through history, without any help from them. And those among them that had not heeded that rule had been severely punished.

Hadn't Kala learned yet from the mistakes of those before her? Chanis knew her sister was stubborn, but was she really willing to be an outcast among her own, all to help lesser beings she had never met? She had to stop Kala before she did something she could not take back. It was her responsibility as her sister to keep Kala out of trouble. And going against the Others was the biggest trouble she could get into.

"You know what they will do to you when they find out. You remember Oma, and Orlo and Chaya Sar?"

"Yes," she answered simply.

"They will try and stop you."

Kala turned away from her sister and began to walk back inside. "I know," she said as she did. 'That's what I'm counting on,' she thought to herself.

She made it as far as the edge of the city before the Others appeared. There were many of them and they all blocked her path, moving to fan out around her, her sister among them. "Please, Kala, stop this," Chanis begged.

Kala shook her head sadly. "No Chanis. This is what's right. They are fighting a battle that is ours. And I cannot stay here and watch them sacrifice without extending a hand to help. Not anymore. We've stayed on the sidelines for far too long."

"But it is forbidden."

"And that is what is wrong," she argued. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and steeling herself for what was next. When she opened them again her eyes found Chanis and held her gaze. "You only have two options, sister. Help me, or get out of my way."

Kala stood her ground, standing off against a dozen Others and her sister. The Others all exchanged glances amongst themselves, an entire conversation occurring in those gazes. It seemed they had come to a decision about her fate a moment later as one at the center of their group nodded to another on the end and then took a step toward Kala.

"No," Chanis said, seeing this and taking a step forward to intercept. She knew what they would do, and she couldn't let them do it to her sister, not if there was something she could do to stop it. She exchanged a meaningful look with the Others, communicating without words her intent. Reluctantly he nodded, and with their consent for her next actions, Chanis stepped towards her sister.

Chanis knew that Kala was wrong about the options left to her. She had a third choice, but it wasn't very pleasant. But if it was the only way she had of saving her sister from her own misguided actions, it was the option she would have no choice but to take.

"You went to them," Kala accused as she squared off against her sister. She had a part to play and she had to make it as convincing as possible. The Others remained circling them, observing. If she gave even an inch they would realize her deception, see through her charade.

"I did it to help you. To get you to see reason Kala, before it was too late. Why are you doing this?"

"Because it's the right thing. And I'm tired of watching them die when it's so easy for us to help."

"Don't you see that that's the problem? That it's so easy for us? It's not supposed to be easy, Kala. They think of us almost as Gods. But we are not Gods. Even though we have the power, we don't have the right to alter the course of their lives."

And that was when Kala finally saw it, the greatness she had always known was inside of her sister. Kala looked to Chanis as if she were seeing her for the first time. All their lives Kala had been the one of them to lead. Chanis had always followed her older sister's example, always counted on her to lead them down the right path. And in ten thousand years Chanis had never once voiced an opinion which differed from that of her sister. She had been perfectly content to exist in the comfort of her sister's shadow. But today that was all changing, and to finally see it happen was truly great.

But Chanis had forgotten one thing. As flesh and blood they had played Gods. They had seeded life across galaxies. And in doing so they had unintentionally created the problem of the Wraith. Unlike the Goa'uld or the Replicators or the Ori, the threat of the Wraith was a consequence of their direct actions. If ever there was a situation for them to take responsibility for, it had to be this one.

"I don't want to help them as a God. I want to help them as a friend," she tried to explain.

After all these years she realized now that that was all she really wanted to do. Watching the people of Earth had made her grow tired of an existence of only watching. For ten thousand years they had watched others live. They had all existed as only energy for so long that they'd forgotten what it meant to live, what it meant to fight for what you believed in and to be willing to die for it. They had forgotten what it meant to risk everything. She would teach them again what it meant. And it would cost her the one thing she loved, her sister.

Kala knew that this was the way that it had to be. In order for her to help them, it would have to be as one of them and not an Ascended. Her plan hinged on that single necessity. The Others couldn't stop her plans if she was no longer bound by their rules.

Kala had known that her sister would not let her go. She had known all along that Chanis would betray her to the Others in an effort to stop her. She knew her sister better than she knew anyone or anything. Ten thousand years by her side had taught her very much. There was a great bond and trust between them. And the worst part of her plan was that it required her to break that trust. But Kala was going to help the people of Pegasus to defeat the Wraith. And she was going to use her sister to do it.

"I'm leaving now, Chanis," Kala said.

"You know I can't let you do that."

"No," Kala replied, knowing she needed to push Chanis further. "I know you won't do what needs to be done to keep me here. Which means you won't be able to stop me. You will have to let me go, Chanis. And let my fate be decided as Oma's and Orlo's. I'm willing to accept my fate. You must be too."

But Chanis couldn't bear the thought of losing her sister. For Kala to be cast away, in exile, away from her for eternity, that was more than she could take. She loved her too much. For ten thousand years they had existed together, and she wasn't ready to give that up, to give Kala up. She would fight to keep her sister. And that's exactly what she was going to do. She would save her sister from herself. She had been doing it all her life, and she would do it once again.

She charged at Kala and their two energies merged together into a great conflict. It would be a long and arduous task but it was the only way, and the chance to save her sister would be worth it. Chanis would fight to save her as Oma fought with Anubis and as Morgan La Fey fought with Adria. Even if it took eternity, it would be an eternity spent with Kala and therefore in Chanis' book worth it.

And so the years passed on that way, one sister having the advantage over the other for some time and then a complete role reversal would occur. Kala had seen it all coming and thought that the battle would be easier, that she would have an advantage over her sister. But Chanis proved to be a worthy adversary and the years continued to tick on as the sisters were locked in their battle of wills. Neither of them would give in. Kala was determined to carry out her plan and Chanis was determined to keep her from the judgment of the Others.

But around year five, Kala finally saw an opening in Chanis' defenses and took advantage. She made a move that her sister didn't even see coming. And suddenly it was all over and Chanis fell, down out of the heavens like a million-ton asteroid, hurtling into an uninhabited planet on the outer edges of the galaxy. The impact was immense and the shockwave it created was the biggest thing the Pegasus galaxy had ever experienced.

Kala took solid form on the planet and stood over her sister's unconscious body. She had won the battle, knocking Chanis out of the plain of the Ascended. The result was that Chanis was now made human once again. And when she woke up she would remember nothing of her past. She would forget all about the Ancients and her ten thousand years of Ascension. She would forget everything that had ever mattered to her. She would forget she even had a sister.

"I'm sorry sister. But this was the only way. You will get to live now, as one of them. And I know that you will be happy. I've seen it."

This was the most unselfish thing Kala had ever done, both as flesh and blood and as an Ascended. It was the greatest gift Kala could give to her sister, the life she saw for Chanis all those years ago, the life she had begun to wish for for herself. But the Others would never have let Kala be free. Chanis was innocent. She was and had always been the answer. She would be able to do what Kala could not.

Kala had never told Chanis exactly what she had seen in her vision. She had known that by doing so she might change things, things about the future that needed to be just as she saw. Because the future Kala had waited ten thousand years for was not her own, but Chanis'. All along it had been Chanis who was destined to help bring an end to the Wraith. And it was always and only Kala's destiny to help her to do that.

The Atlantis team would come soon to investigate the explosion of energy their fight had created. Others, like the Wraith, might come too. The chance to possess such a power would be too great to pass up. Kala would do her part to protect Chanis until the humans arrived. And when they did she would lead them to her sister. And once Chanis stepped foot on Atlantis, the future would be unstoppable.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter One

It was Sunday, the one day a week that everyone on Atlantis got to themselves to do with as they pleased, barring any unforeseen alien attacks of course. And John Sheppard had nothing to do and no one to do it with. He roamed the halls of the city, passing by others much busier than he, envious of each and every one of them.

He found himself standing in front of Rodney's lab. It was a testament to just how desperate he actually was. He thought that maybe Rodney might be interested in racing cars again on the east pier, or perhaps a game of golf off of the West pier. As John approached the doors they suddenly slid open and Rodney almost collided with him in his hurry to leave his lab.

"Whoa, where's the fire?" Sheppard said, turning just in time to avoid the collision.

Rodney slowed a bit and turned to look at Sheppard, striding now in reverse down the hall towards his destination. "Sheppard, what are you doing here?"

"I was coming to see if you wanted a rematch in that race I killed you in last week," he called across the growing distance between them.

"It was a marginal loss at best," Rodney argued. "Anyway, I can't. I'm on my way to the jumper bay to meet with Jennifer. We're finally going on that picnic on the mainland she promised me." He said it with a large, uncontrollable grin on his face. It was obvious that a picnic wasn't all she had promised him on their trip. He wasn't going to miss this for anything, even a chance at shoving a win down Sheppard's cocky throat. "Gotta go," he said turning away and hurrying off, practically tripping over himself to get to the jumper-bay.

"Sounds like fun," Sheppard said, realizing it was to himself. He turned and started to continue on in search of another friend. Someone else in the city had to be free.

He headed off in search of Teyla. She was always fun to hang out with. Torren was in the city with her as well. John loved playing around with that kid. Maybe he could show Torren how to pilot one of the jumpers. Two years old wasn't too young to learn. The boy had been born on a spaceship. He was bound to have flying in his blood.

As Sheppard approached Teyla's quarters he spotted her headed down the corridor in his direction. She was wearing the clothes of her homeworld, which wasn't promising for his recent expectations of the day. And she seemed to be chasing after a tiny, yet fast, Atlantean terror.

John kneeled down just in time and swept little Torren into his arms. Everyone but John was in a rush today it seemed. "Where are you off to buddy?" he asked the child as he started to tickle his tiny neck.

The boy squirmed and giggled as his mother finally caught up with them.

"Did you lose something?" John asked her, referring to the boy still giggling and squirming in his arms.

"He is becoming quite a handful," she answered smiling at her son.

"He's just trying out his sea legs. Isn't that right, Torren?" John asked looking down at the bundle in his arms. The boy smiled and blew a raspberry in his face, which made the two adults laugh.

"Torren and I were just on our way to New Athos to visit with Kanaan."

"Yeah I figured as much. We're going to miss this little guy while he's away."

"Don't worry. He's not going anywhere. Kanaan and I have been discussing it and we've decided that it would be best if he moved to Atlantis for good, so that we can all be a family."

"That's great. So you're going to New Athos now to bring Kanaan back with you?"

"Yes. Torren would benefit from having both of his parents in one place. And it would be great to have them both here. Traveling back and forth all the time has become quite tiring. And I miss them both too much when they're gone."

"Yeah, I get it. Besides, more opportunities to roll around with this terror," he said tossing the small boy up in the air and then catching him as the child let out an adorable squeal of delight. "I'm on board," John responded.

Teyla eyed the pair appreciatively. "You really do have a way with him," she observed.

"What? Who here doesn't love this kid?"

Torren was, after all, the only child on Atlantis. Occasionally the city hosted refugee children from planets attacked or destroyed by the Wraith. But Torren was a child of Atlantis, the only one they could claim as their own. Most of the workers here were themselves childless. When the expedition team had first come here to the Pegasus galaxy, none of them had known if they would ever be able to return to Earth. It wasn't exactly the kind of mission people who would be leaving behind families volunteered for. And the few who did have children only saw them when they returned to Earth for leave. Being as how the Stargate project still being unknown to the general population of the planet they couldn't very well bring their families here to the city.

"What about you?" she asked. "Do you have any big plans for your day off?"

"You know me. I'm just gonna take it easy, hang back. Maybe hit a few balls off the east pier. You know, unwind."

Torren started to squirm in John's arms. Sheppard handed him over to his mother.

"John, John, John," the boy started chanting.

John reached out and chucked the boy playfully under his chin. "Next time kiddo." He looked back up to Teyla. "Have a good time on New Athos."

"Yes. And you enjoy your day as well," she responded before continuing on toward the gateroom, Torren still squirming in her arms.

And again John was out of luck. He thought about whom to seek out next. He really wasn't interested in hanging out with Woolsey. He didn't think they had the same ideas about what constituted a good time. If he remembered correctly, the last time he'd made the mistake of asking Woolsey to spend off hours with him John had been tortured for hours by the unending sounds of Bach and Tchaikovsky and made to drink a very dry Merlot. He really wasn't a fan for much more than some Johnny Cash and a good beer.

Carson was also not an option seeing as he was on Earth and wouldn't be returning to the city for a few months. Lorne and his team were on an extended mission on Z25367. Ronon was John's last hope. Maybe they could go for a run, or spar. He had been meaning to ask Ronon to show him a disarming move he'd noticed on a mission last week.

He activated his earpiece. "Ronon, come in. This is Sheppard."

It took longer than usual for Ronon to respond to the hail. And as he did the man sounded out of breath. "Yeah, Sheppard. What's up?"

"Where are you? I was hoping we could go for a run and spar."

There was an awkward silence on the other end of the transmission. "Yeah, sorry buddy. I'm kind of in the middle of my own sparring session right now. With Amelia," he added pointedly.

The meaning of the other man's words hit Sheppard like a brick. "Oh, right. Sorry to interrupt."

"Next week, maybe," Ronon offered as a concession.

"Yeah, sure."

John headed off back to his quarters. If he had no one to play with, he figured he might as well put a dent in the War and Peace novel he'd brought with him to Atlantis more than six years ago. At the time he'd thought he would have a lot of spare time to read. He had been wrong about that. But now he plopped down on his bed and picked up what had become a nice paper weight and opened it up. He was on page 107 of over a thousand. He had fallen a little behind schedule. But today he figured he could make up for it. What else was he going to do?

/

/

The blow came from out of nowhere. He hadn't been expecting it at all. It even stung a little. Sheppard had been learning some new skills. Ronon was beginning to be impressed. After five years of sparring together John Sheppard was starting to show great improvement of skill. He fought almost as well as a true Satedan now.

"Someone's been practicing," Ronon remarked.

"Yeah, well I've had a lot of free time on my hands since we got back," John answered.

Ronon smirked across the room at his friend. His own spare time had been spent mostly with Amelia since their return to Pegasus. Rodney was spending more and more time with Jennifer. And Teyla had been busy shuffling from Atlantis to New Athos and back to see Torren and Kanaan. As a result John had been left to find other means of diversion in the city without his friends around. In fact, this was the first sparring session between the two of the men in the past six weeks.

"Sorry about that," Ronon smirked.

John rolled his eyes and laughed. "No you're not," he said.

Ronon grinned and nodded. "You're right. I'm not," he answered with a cocky smile, thinking about just what he had been doing with Amelia in their free time. It was nothing to be sorry about.

"All right, enough chit-chat."

John began to make an offensive move towards Ronon when the city began to tremble beneath them. The intensity of the vibrations began steadily increasing in a great crescendo. The bantos sticks hanging on the far wall fell over and rattled on the floor. The stained-glass windows shattered. The room shook so much that both men were quickly knocked off of their feet. As swiftly as the tremors had begun, they ceased. The whole episode had lasted less than a minute.

"What the hell was that?" John asked rhetorically as they got back to their feet. The two men exchanged an ominous look before they trotted out of the room, headed for the control tower and the gateroom.

/

"What the hell just happened?" John asked again, this time as he, Ronon and Teyla entered the Atlantis control room. Both he and Ronon had arrived at the gateroom at the same time that Teyla had and they had all made their way up the stairs to the control room together. The tremors had apparently been felt all around the city.

Rodney was already working furiously at his station, frantically typing in commands and shouting out orders to his underlings in the tower. The entire room was filled with other members of the expedition busy working, all no doubt trying to get to the bottom of this latest incident. Mr. Woolsey was hovering over Chuck's shoulder at the main console, both men staring perplexedly at the screen in front of them.

"Anyone know what the hell is going on here?" John asked as he walked through the room.

"Some kind of blast or shockwave," someone offered in passing.

"Yeah, got that. Where the hell did it come from?" John said as he made his way to Chuck's console to stand beside Woolsey. Ronon remained standing ominously at the door. Teyla moved further into the room to get a better gauge on the situation.

Chuck shook his head. "No idea. Not here. Sensors are saying everything in the city is as it should be. No energy surges to account for what we experienced. Our shields are holding and in all likelihood it's probably what protected us from the full force of whatever it was. Otherwise this could have been way worse."

All eyes were drawn to Rodney across the room as he jumped up out of his seat. "I've got it!" he declared triumphantly, making his way to the rest of his team. Ronon and Teyla followed him to Mr. Woolsey's and Sheppard's sides. "The shockwave reached across the entire Pegasus galaxy," he announced to the room, the amazement clear in his voice.

He let the revelation sink in to his audience in the room. Atlantis had the protection of the shield. It was a luxury that the rest of the Pegasus galaxy did not have. If they had been able to feel the shockwave in the city even with the shield, what damage had it caused to all the other worlds?

"I've been able to extrapolate its origin." He cleared Chuck out of the seat the man had been occupying and took his place at the main console. Rodney then queued up an image on the display for the rest of his team to view. On the screen was a blinking red dot indicating a planet on the outer reaches of the galaxy. "Whatever it was that hit us, it came from there," Rodney said jamming his finger at the screen.

"M4732Z," Mr. Woolsey said reading the monitor. "We designated that planet as uninhabited. Nothing's there but ruins. It doesn't hold any technology at all, let alone something that could cause such a galactic energy surge."

"Well if it wasn't there before, something's definitely there now," Ronon said.

"Whatever it was required an enormous amount of energy," Rodney said.

"How enormous?" Ronon asked.

"Greater than anything we've encountered in Pegasus. More than our three ZedPM's combined could produce. Maybe even more than twenty," Rodney answered.

"What could possess such power?" Teyla asked, wonder in her voice.

"Whatever it is, I want one," Sheppard remarked. A thought occurred to him. He turned to Rodney. "You said the shockwave reached across the entire galaxy, right?" Sheppard asked, and Rodney nodded his head. "So it's a sure bet that the Wraith know about this too, assuming they're not the ones who caused it."

A palpable silence filled the air as the group thought about the ramifications of that. Mr. Woolsey took his cue. "Colonel Sheppard, you and your team are cleared to investigate M4732Z. Whatever caused this, we can't risk the Wraith getting their hands on it."

/

The jumper emerged through the space gate in orbit of planet M4732Z and immediately Colonel Sheppard had to put the craft into a nosedive to avoid a large piece of space debris. He made another quick course adjustment a moment later to avoid another chunk of large twisted metal before he was finally able to steady the jumper. An idea flew through his head and instantly a grid appeared on the Heads-Up Display on the jumper's windshield and he was shown that the entire space between the gate and the planet was littered with debris.

"Is that what I think it is?" Ronon asked, looking on.

Rodney and John both studied the grid. An analysis of the debris began to be projected on the screen as the jumper intuited what John wanted.

"Yup," John began. "That's what's left of a Wraith Hive ship," he answered.

"Actually," Rodney began, looking back and forth between the readings on the jumper's screen and the readings from his tablet. "Judging by the size of the debris field, I'd say that it was more than one."

"What could have taken out a pair of Hive ships in Pegasus?" Teyla asked.

"The mystery just keeps on building," was John's reply.

"Should we head back?" Rodney asked, the coward in him rearing its ugly head.

John thought about the energy it would have taken to take out the Hives. Then he considered the experience of the shockwave that had hit Atlantis and apparently spread throughout the entire galaxy. If the source of the shockwave had caused the destruction of the Hives, then it might be a one-time occurrence and they were safe. And if the Hives had been taken out by something else, they themselves had been there long enough to be attacked and still had not come to harm. It might be that they were not seen as a threat. Whatever it was that had the power to do that, they couldn't pass up this opportunity to find what it was and get their hands on it. So he made a command decision.

"We stay," he said.

Sheppard carefully navigated the jumper's way through the debris field. He circled the large globe as he took readings of the surface. "So Rodney," John started. "It's a big planet. Where exactly am I going?" he asked. As he said this a search grid appeared on the windshield. Rodney looked back and forth between the view-screen and his tablet, whatever it was he was seeing there obviously confusing him. "Rodney!" John called after a few beats when the other man still hadn't responded.

Rodney looked up. "I don't know. I'm not getting anything. No unusual readings at all to explain what we experienced on Atlantis," he told them. "Or the Hive debris field," he added.

"But you said that this was where the shockwave originated," Teyla said.

"Unless you got the wrong planet," Ronon quipped.

"No, this is definitely the right place," Rodney declared. "I checked the data several times." Rodney looked to the view-screen again. For a split-second he saw something there. "Wait, right there!" he said, and all eyes followed his.

"I'm not seeing anything," Sheppard said staring at the unchanged view screen.

"I saw it there," Rodney said pointing. "A faint energy signature. Something on the planet must be interfering with our readings, but I swear I saw it."

John looked to the others. Ronon's face was blank as usual and Teyla just shrugged. John looked again to the screen and still saw nothing. Still, he figured they had more to gain by investigating the planet than if they just turned tail and headed back to Atlantis. He turned back to Rodney. "All right, where was this mystery signal?" John asked dubiously.

Rodney pointed to a wooded area a couple of miles from one of the largest of the ruins left on the side of the planet they were orbiting. When their expedition teams had surveyed the area years ago Atlantis had deduced that the ruins had once been the site of an Ancient outpost. But when they'd conducted their search of the planet they hadn't been able to find any traces of technology whatsoever. Either the Ancients who had run the outpost had taken everything with them when they abandoned it, or it had been raided by the Wraith or another space-faring race of Pegasus. Five years ago they hadn't found anything on the planet that could account for or explain the energy wave. But now Rodney was telling them that that had somehow changed.

Sheppard set the jumper down in a clearing near the ruins and the whole team piled out. They would have to trek the rest of the way on foot through the woods to the location that Rodney had indicated. And they would have to do it fast. There was no telling how much time they would have to perform their search. They all turned expectantly to Rodney.

"What?" he asked.

"Show us where your phantom signal came from," Sheppard said. "Lead the way," he gestured with his P90.

Rodney rolled his eyes before he looked down to consult his tablet. His screen gave him no clues as to where to go. But his entire team was staring at him. He had led them to this planet in the first place. He had boldly declared that what they were looking for was here somewhere. And now he had to find it. He started off in the direction the "phantom signal" had indicated and started walking, his team following behind him.

Fifteen minutes later they had trekked over a mile through the woods and still Rodney's tablet told them nothing. He was sure there was something in the atmosphere or on the planet itself that was interfering with his readings. There was something around now that hadn't been there five years ago when they'd surveyed M4732Z. On their trek they hadn't run across any signs of technology either, Ancient or otherwise. When they finally arrived at the coordinates Rodney had seen indicated on the search-grid of the jumper for that split-second, the team still found nothing. Rodney was ready to admit that he might have been wrong.

"Uh Rodney?" John asked.

Sighing and dropping his tablet to his side, Rodney hung his head in defeat. "Yeah, I know."

"Wait for it," Ronon said to the others.

"Yeah, I think it's actually coming," John piped in. They all held their breath. The moment they had been waiting years for was finally about to happen.

"There may be a slight possibility that I may have miscalculated," Rodney said.

"Rodney, are you saying that you were wrong?" Teyla prompted, joining her teammates in one of their favorite pastimes, teasing Rodney.

"I may have been mistaken," Rodney grudgingly conceded.

There was a heavy silence in the air before a collective sigh resounded from the rest of his team.

"Rodney, I commend you. It takes a bold man to admit when he's wrong," John said patting the man across the back.

"I didn't say I was wrong-" Rodney started.

"Uh uh uh," John said wagging his finger in the air, stopping him. "Don't ruin it." John looked from Rodney to the rest of his team. Maybe they weren't going to find the answers they were looking for here after all. "Okay, team. Back to the gate," John ordered. "Ronon, you can kick Rodney's ass later," he said starting back in the direction they had come.

"Ha, ha, very funny," Rodney called after him.

Ronon walked past Rodney a second later. "Who's kidding?" he asked the man as he passed. Rodney looked after him stunned and swallowed the lump that had very recently lodged in his throat. Teyla smiled at him as she began to follow the rest of her team back towards the gate.

The team had only taken a few steps back in the direction of the gate when Colonel Sheppard stopped his advancement suddenly.

"What is it?" Ronon asked.

"I don't know," John answered. A split second later he started to head east, away from the gate and his team without a word of explanation. After a slight hesitation and with an exchange of raised eyebrows and confused expressions his team began following warily behind him.

Rodney trotted up to the head of the group to walk at Sheppard's side. "Sheppard, do you have any idea where we're going?"

"Not a clue," he answered, staring straight ahead into the unknown as he continued on.

"Oh great. That's comforting," he said slowing his pace and falling behind the Colonel once again.

Ronon passed by Rodney and rolled his eyes in the way that only Ronon could and Teyla smiled amusedly again as they marched on. They continued on like that for ten minutes until they came to a clearing that they hadn't previously discovered on any of their prior visits to the planet. Rodney also noted that the sensors on the jumper hadn't detected it from the air either.

"Sheppard, what is this?" Rodney asked, calling after him. "Did you know this was here?"

"No Rodney, I did not," he answered, exasperated. He was just as confused by all of this as they all were.

"But you led us straight to it," Rodney badgered.

"Yes, I'm aware of that." Leave it to Rodney to always state the obvious.

"That's it? That's all you've got?" Ronon queried.

"Look, it's weird," John admitted as he stopped his pace and turned back to look at his team. "But it's like something drew me here. Something was calling to me or something, I don't know. Does that make sense?"

"No," Rodney answered. "It doesn't. It makes absolutely no sense. What are you psychic now? This is completely ridiculous. Look, I admitted I may have made a miscalculation. That doesn't mean that more Wraith aren't on their way. We should be back on Atlantis by now. Instead we're tramping around the forest because of your spidey senses."

"Rodney," Teyla said interrupting Rodney's latest rant. "Calm down."

"No," he turned to her pouting. "It's meatloaf Tuesday and I'm hungry."

"You're always hungry," Ronon grumbled.

"That's beside the point," Rodney countered as Sheppard started walking again. "And off he goes again," he said, gesturing at the back of the retreating man. He turned appealingly to Teyla and Ronon. "What if this is some kind of ambush?" he offered. "Have you thought of that?" he turned to call after Sheppard. John didn't respond as he kept moving away from them. "He doesn't care," Rodney said as they continued after Sheppard. "He's leading us to our deaths and we're just following along complacently."

"But when we were following you to nowhere, that was perfectly fine," Ronon grumbled. Rodney was silent. "Besides, you worry too much," Ronon finished as he walked past Rodney on his way to catch up with Sheppard.

"Yeah, okay. Say that to me when you're the Wraith's next meal, Ronon," he called after him. And then he followed them anyway.

They continued on for a few minutes more, finding nothing but a long untraveled foot trail, until Teyla stopped suddenly. They all turned to her.

"What is it?" Sheppard asked.

"Someone's here," she informed.

"Where?" Ronon asked, immediately on alert.

"Close. I can feel them. I do not know how," she explained. "But I can feel them in my head somehow."

"Wraith?" Rodney squeaked.

"No. I do not believe so. This presence in my head, what I am sensing, it is unlike anything I have experienced when dealing with the Wraith. It is unlike anything I have ever experienced." She clenched her eyes shut tightly and shook her head as the connection became more intense.

"What is it Teyla?" John asked coming to her side, concern for his friend growing.

"She needs help!" Teyla cried out as an enormous wave washed over her.

"Teyla, focus," John said kneeling in front of her. "What is it? Who needs help?"

The intensity of the connection left her almost as quickly as it had overcome her, but the presence was still there. Teyla tried to concentrate, to focus her mind completely. When the Wraith were in her head it was a constant struggle for control, for power and dominance. But this presence was different. Whatever it was, it wasn't in control, just a tiny voice in her mind, reaching out. It was almost as if the presence in her head were not completely aware of their connection at all. It wasn't talking to her or reading or probing her. It was just transmitting. Thoughts and emotions flooded to her like a signal. Almost like a homing beacon.

Teyla tried to reach out to it, to let whoever or whatever it was know that she was there, that she and her team were trying to help. She tried to ask it a question. _'Where are you?'_ As a response the presence became stronger, much stronger. And she knew where it was coming from.

She opened her eyes and looked in the direction she felt the presence emanating from. The rest of the team's eyes followed as she raised her hand and indicated further east. "There," she said. "She's over there." For now she knew that at the end of their journey they would find a woman. John helped Teyla back to her feet and the team marched on, deeper into the woods.

Rodney walked up beside Ronon as they trekked. "So am I the only one finding this whole thing strange?"

"What do you mean?"

Rodney began ticking off the list on his fingers. "First, the universal quake. My instruments don't quite work because of some unknown interference. Then Sheppard leads us out here to the middle of nowhere, no idea why or how."

"You mean _**you**_ led us out here," Ronon interrupted, correcting him.

Rodney continued on undeterred. "And now Teyla has this voice in her head leading us yet further into the unknown in search of this mystery woman in need of help. Does that not scream trap to anyone else but me?"

"So?" Ronon grunted indifferently as he continued on. He was always ready for a good fight.

"Oh, nothing. Just thought I'd put it out there." Rodney watched his three team members continue on ahead of him and let out a heavy sigh. He raised his gaze to the heavens. "Why am I the only one with any sense on this team?" he asked. When he looked back he noticed the others had gotten further away from him than he was comfortable with. "Wait up!" he called jogging after them.

John and Teyla were now both on a mission, focused only on finding whoever it was that was out there somehow leading the Atlantis team to them. Ronon was focused on keeping an eye out for any threat, that ambush Rodney had suggested playing out several different ways in his mind as he continued. And Rodney only followed behind thinking about the emptiness growing in his stomach as it growled. He was regretting having started them on this mission in the first place.

Finally they came to another clearing, this one several meters wide. It occurred both to Rodney and to John that they hadn't been able to detect this clearing from the jumper either. Its sensors may have been affected by whatever it was that was affecting Rodney's tablet, if they were ever going to figure out what that was. But they immediately noticed that the clearing wasn't completely empty as the other had been.

There was something lying on the grass at the center. They could see it from such a great distance because it was a stark white in the middle of an endless expanse of green. They began walking towards it, and as they came upon it they realized that what they saw was not an It but a woman. She was lying naked, unconscious, in the middle of a clearing, in the middle of nowhere, on a deserted planet.

The three men respectfully tried to avert their eyes. Ronon shoved his pistol into Rodney's gut so that he could peel off his trench coat. He handed it over to Sheppard who then kneeled beside the woman on the ground and delicately draped it over her.

"Where the hell did she come from?" Ronon asked.

"Better question is what the hell is she doing out here, like this? And what happened to her?" John said, as he kneeled at the woman's side. He reached out to her to feel for a pulse. "She's alive," he informed. "Doesn't look injured." He turned her head so that they could see her face. He reached out gently, brushing her long dark hair away from her face. And once he had he was instantly stunned. She was strikingly beautiful. So much so that she took his breath away.

"So, what do we do?" Ronon asked.

Ronon's words afforded John a moment to recover his composure. He looked up to his team. "We should take her back to Atlantis. Have Dr. Keller check her out." He turned back to stare at the vast clearing surrounding them. Everything about this mission was confusing and mysterious. They had come to investigate an anonymous energy source and had found only more questions in need of answers. "Then maybe she can tell us what the hell happened on this planet."

"Wait, wait, wait," Rodney interrupted. "You want to take her back to Atlantis? Does anyone besides me think that may be a bad idea? Sheppard, don't you remember the SG-1 mission where they found only one survivor on an entire planet, they take her back to the SGC and she had a frickin' bomb inside her? What if this is the same kind of situation? What if she's a Replicator? Or a plant by the Genii or any one of our enemies in this galaxy?"

"I doubt she's a bomb Rodney," Sheppard said.

"I do not sense that she is a threat," Teyla answered. "In fact, I feel the opposite about this woman. It is an odd feeling. But I feel as if we were meant to find her."

John had been feeling the same way. When they had been heading back to the gate he had felt an inexplicable force drawing him into the forest beyond. He couldn't explain what it was; he just knew that he had to follow it to wherever it would lead him. And it had led him here, to this woman he had never seen before but was somehow drawn to.

Making another command decision, John handed his weapon over to Ronon and moved to pick the woman up. He wrapped the coat more securely around her and hoisted her up into his arms.

"Really," Rodney started.

John stopped him. "It's settled Rodney. We're taking her back with us."

"Fine. Don't say I didn't warn you."

They headed back to the gate and dialed home.

/

/

She woke up several hours later in the medical bay to find John Sheppard sitting by her side. Dr. Jennifer Keller had examined her and run full medical scans but could find nothing wrong with the woman. Jennifer had assured Rodney that Atlantis' newest guest was not a Replicator nor did she have any bombs implanted in her. She was in perfect physical health as far as they could tell. They had gleaned no information yet as to what had happened on that planet or why she was the only one they had been able to find.

John had come back to check up on her after his team had finished with their debriefing with Mr. Woolsey. That was several hours ago. He had gotten the update from Dr. Keller when he'd first arrived in the medical bay and had been watching the woman as she slept ever since. She looked so peaceful in her sleep.

He sat up in the chair beside her bed as she startled awake. Her eyes blinked as they adjusted to the lighting in the room. Slowly she looked around, trying to place her surroundings. Finally her eyes settled on him. "Hello," he said.

"Hello," she answered. She sat up in the bed. She looked down curiously at the white patient scrubs the medical staff had dressed her in when his team had brought her in.

John stood up to stand over at her bedside. As he looked down on her he was momentarily stunned into silence. Her eyes had him captivated. They were a shade of green he had never seen before. "My name is Lt. Col. John Sheppard," he finally said, finding his voice. "My team and I found you on a deserted planet we have designated M4732Z. You were the only one we found. You were unconscious and we brought you here so that we could be sure that you were okay."

"Here? Where is here?"

"You're in our city. Atlantis."

"Atlantis," she copied, trying the name out on her tongue.

He nodded his head. "Can you tell us your name?" he asked her.

She stared at him as she searched her brain for the answer to his question. But she could come up with nothing. She shook her head as an answer instead. "I… I don't know."

"Do you know what happened on the planet where you were found? Why you were there? How you got there or whether there were any other people there with you?"

She wracked her brain for answers, any answer. But she was drawing only blanks. She had no idea about anything, who she was or where she came from. It was all a mystery, to her and now to the people of Atlantis.

"I'm sorry," she sighed.

All those hours of sitting there staring across the med-bay at her he had come up with dozens of questions he wanted answered. There were so many things he had hoped to learn about who she was and where she came from that he realized now he might never get the answers to. He was more than just a little disappointed. And it wasn't just because of the mystery of what had happened on that planet or what caused that shockwave. It was the mystery of the woman herself now that intrigued him.

Sheppard looked around for Dr. Keller and spotted her across the room. She saw him signal and headed over to them. She approached the patient with her best doctor smile and stood on the opposite side of the bed, across from Sheppard.

"Good to see you're finally awake," Keller said pleasantly to the woman, a warm smile on her face. She pulled her penlight from her breast pocket and tested it. "I'm going to shine this in your eyes to check them really quickly. Is that all right?" The woman nodded. Jennifer checked the woman's eyes and found everything fine. "Okay, now follow my finger with your eyes," she instructed. She ran the test and the woman passed with flying colors. "Okay, everything here looks good," Jen announced, satisfied. "Can you tell us what happened?"

The visitor looked up to John searchingly and John took his queue, coming to her rescue. "She has no memory, Doc. She doesn't even know her name," John informed Dr. Keller.

Keller looked from her patient to John and then back again. "It sounds like it may be retro-grade amnesia. It's usually associated with blunt-force trauma but your scans didn't show any such injury. It could be that maybe the trauma of whatever happened on the planet you were found on caused you to lose your memory. Unfortunately there's not much that we can do besides wait and see if it returns on its own. I know that's not the greatest news but you're in good hands here. We'll take great care of you." Keller looked across the medical bed and eyed Sheppard. She turned back to her patient. "I need to speak with the Colonel for a minute. We'll be right over there," she informed pointing at a spot a short distance from the med-cot the woman occupied that would be just out of hearing range. The woman nodded and the two Atlantians stepped away to a quiet corner.

"What's up Doc? You find anything?" John asked.

"Not a thing," she answered shaking her head. "She has no injuries, and nothing on our scans can account for the memory loss."

They both turned back to look at the patient. "She seems very calm for someone who just woke up in a strange place with no idea of who she is, doesn't she?" John asked.

"Everyone responds differently. But, you're right. She's very calm."

"Is there any way she might be faking this?"

"Hard to say."

John turned back to Jennifer. "That's not very helpful Doc. I need to know if she's a threat to this city."

"Looks like you're going to have to find that out the old fashioned way."

"What way is that?" he asked eyeing her.

Jennifer smiled and patted him on the arm. "Get to know her," she said walking away.

John stared after her retreating form contemplatively. He turned back to the woman lying in the medical bed. How did you get to know someone who couldn't remember who they were? He was about to find out. And he felt excitement wash over him at the prospect.

He walked back over to her side.

"Is everything all right?" she asked.

"Yeah, just trying to figure out what to make of all this," he said running his hand through the hair at the back of his head.

She looked around the room ominously. "That makes two of us," she quipped.

He couldn't help but to smile. "Well, it looks like you might be staying with us for a while. Don't worry, we happen to be excellent hosts."

She smiled back at him in return. "I'm getting that feeling."

"But first thing's first. We're going to need to find something to call you. I'm usually pretty good at naming people."

He thought about that. Since they had come to Atlantis he had taken it upon himself to name the new objects they discovered as well as the new beings; objects such as the puddle-jumpers and beings such as some key Wraith they'd run into. The Wraith never did get around to introducing themselves properly before they sucked the life right out of you. So when the Atlantis teams found occasion to address a Wraith Commander here or there, John assigned them a name of whatever person from his past they reminded him of the most. He reflected for a moment on how most of the people he'd named lately had been enemies of theirs. In fact all of them had. It would be refreshing to name someone who might actually be a friend for a change.

"So how about it?" he asked her.

"Sure, give it a shot," she answered.

He pulled the chair he had been sitting in before closer to her bedside and sat back down. He began to think of some names that he thought might suit her. There were so many running through his head, so many women he had encountered over the years. But looking at this woman he felt he couldn't compare her to any other he had ever met before. She was, in a word, unique.

"Let's see. In grade school I knew a girl named Lucy," he offered. The look she gave him told him she was not pleased. "No Lucy, huh?" She shook her head. He began spouting off names as they came to him. "Emily, Amanda, Carrie, Catherine, Sharon, Terri, Julie." With each name the woman shook her head. "Bonnie, Jane, Susan, Clare, Elaina, Jess, Dana-"

She stopped him then. "Wait, what did you say?"

He had been throwing names out so fast he'd forgotten some of the ones he'd said. "Um, Dana?" he asked.

"No, before that."

"Jess?"

She shook her head more vehemently. "No."

"Okay, not a fan of Jess. Elaina?" he asked, remembering the name he'd said before that.

Her expression perked up a bit. "That sounds like what I heard a little. But you were saying them so fast it I didn't hear part of it. It sounded more like Layna?"

"Layna?" he asked.

"Yes," she said nodding. "I like that name."

"All right. Layna it is." He smiled at her across the small distance between them. "It's nice to meet you, Layna."

"It's nice to meet you too Colonel Sheppard."

"It's John," he corrected.

"John," she amended. "And thank you. Thank you for saving me."


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

It was a rare occasion to see Richard Woolsey dressed for an away mission, but as the Atlantis representative for the Pegasus Coalition it was a requirement that he occasionally venture through the gate to attend the council meetings along with all the other representatives of worlds across the galaxy. And sadly for him today was one of those days.

Major Evan Lorne and his three-man team were suited up and ready to accompany him. Lorne caught Colonel Sheppard's sight just before he stepped through the event horizon. The man stood on the balcony overlooking the gateroom with a bemused expression etched across his face as he watched them disembark through the gate. It was clear that the Colonel was happy that it was not his team this time whose turn it was to accompany Mr. Woolsey. Resigned to his fate, Major Lorne gave the Colonel a sad parting wave before he stepped through the gate.

He emerged on the other side to his team and a small three-man greeting party from the delegation. "Oh, Major Lorne," Woolsey began. "How nice of you to join us."

Lorne resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the other man. "Did I miss something in the few seconds it took me to get through the gate?" he asked, not really expecting an answer.

"Yes," Mr. Woolsey continued. "These gentlemen were just explaining that the venue for the meeting has been changed."

Major Lorne took in this information, instantly not liking where this was headed. "Did they happen to give a reason as to why?" he asked, looking around the form of Mr. Woolsey to eye the delegation standing directly behind him.

The taller man in the middle of their ranks, apparently the leader among them, spoke up. "With the growing frequency of the Wraith attacks as of late, the council thought it best to move the meeting to a more secure location."

"And they just decided to surprise us with this?" Lorne asked suspiciously.

"All members of the delegation are being informed of this change at the same time as a precaution. I can assure you that your party is not being treated any differently from the others and this is strictly for your safety."

Lorne eyed the three men warily before exchanging glances with his own men. He didn't like the last minute change, even if it really was for their protection. As the security detail for Mr. Woolsey on this particular council meeting venture, it was their duty to be aware of any and all threats or changes to their plans. He couldn't perform his job correctly if he was going to be kept in the dark about such things from these Pegasus Coalition delegates.

And he was reminded of the last time these same people had changed the script on them. Colonel Sheppard and his team had been put on trial for their lives for the expedition's actions concerning the Wraith. It had taken Atlantis' active participation in the Coalition to secure their release. He was not looking for a repeat of that fiasco.

Their hosts moved as a group to the DHD and their leader began dialing an address. Moments later the gate activated, and as it locked in on the seventh chevron of the dialed address, the event horizon bloomed out in front of them. Lorne and his team watched as the men sent to escort them made their way up the stairs leading to the gate. They paused just before disembarking as they realized they were up on the gate platform alone and turned back to look at the Atlantians. "If you'll just follow us, we'll have you with the rest of the delegation shortly," their speaker assured them.

Mr. Woolsey walked up beside Major Lorne. "What do you think?" Lorne asked the man.

"Oh no, Major. This one is completely your call," Woolsey responded.

"But do you trust them?" Lorne asked.

"They haven't given us any reason to doubt them," Woolsey answered.

Lorne turned to the man at his side, his brow furrowed in disbelief. "Seriously?"

"Recently," Woolsey amended, shrugging his shoulders.

Lorne reluctantly nodded and turned to exchange looks with his men. "All right," he finally agreed. "Let's get this show on the road then," he said to the delegates, who stared at him perplexed. "It's an expression from our world," he explained. "It means let's go."

With a nod of acknowledgment from their leader the delegates turned back to the gate. Mr. Woolsey, Major Lorne and his men followed after them.

It took two more stops on two unremarkable planets before they finally came to the planet where the actual meeting would take place. Lorne breathed a sigh of relief at the news that they had finally arrived at their destination. One more trip through the gate to another dead planet and he would have given up, packed his gear and taken his men back to Atlantis. All this cloak and dagger stuff was not wearing well on his patience.

It was nightfall on the planet when they arrived. It took Major Lorne and his men a moment to adjust their eyes to the dark and once they did they realized there wasn't really much to see. This planet seemed to be just as unremarkable as those they had traveled through to get here.

They were led away from the gate by their escorts to a shell of a village a few kilometers away. There were dozens of small shelters set up around a large quad, but as Lorne passed by with his men they noticed that only a fraction of the dwellings seemed to be occupied and the entire village seemed to be somewhat of a ghost town. This was not what they had come to expect of a working village in Pegasus.

There were none of the usual sounds, or sights, or even smells here. There were no children running around playing as they had observed on other villages they had visited. There were no elders hobbling around sharing their years of wisdom, no men around building or procuring food, no women cooking or making clothes. There were only a small handful of people dispersed around the town quad performing busy work.

But as they soon discovered as they were led to a dwelling at the center of the village with a secret passage to a large underground network of chambers, the village was only a façade. This was where the real village was, where all the people of this planet actually lived. They had created an underground haven, safe from the Wraith, just as the expedition had once discovered that the Genii had when they'd first met them six years ago when Atlantis had first begun to explore the Pegasus galaxy.

But where the Genii underground was vast and detached, this underground was homey and intimate. The Genii underground was a militaristic society, inhabited by soldiers born and bred to fight and defend against the Wraith for generations. The underground society here was not that at all. Here they were just people, trying to live their lives in the safest way they could in the time of the Wraith cullings. And without the luxury of defensive technologies such as those possessed by Atlantis, living underground was their safest bet.

As the group was being escorted to the private banquet hall, what appeared to be some sort of ball, though instead of being completely round it was multi-sided and quite interesting, bounced awkwardly into Lorne's path. A small tope-headed girl of about eight came running after it a second later. Major Lorne kneeled down to pick it up and came face to face with the smiling little girl. "Thank you," she said as she took the ball from him.

"You're very welcome," he said with a smile as he watched her run off back to the group of children she had been playing with. Lorne looked after them playing for a few beats. It was an odd game they were playing with the even more oddly shaped ball, but it wasn't the game he was watching. He watched them with a bit of nostalgia, reminded of the children back home on Earth. He missed the sight and sounds of children playing. He didn't get to see much of that on Atlantis. In all its wonderful splendor, there were a few things that their beautiful city lacked. Maybe one day soon the city could be fully populated and the sounds of children's laughter would fill the halls. That day would be welcomed by many of the inhabitants of Atlantis, he knew.

After pulling himself back to his feet, Lorne and his men continued on to follow the delegation to a private banquet hall which had been reserved for the members of the council and their staff and security. As Major Lorne scanned the room he took in the people already present there. The Atlantis team was not the first to arrive, and by the looks of it they wouldn't be the last either.

The Pegasus Coalition was made up of ten strong civilizations spanning across the galaxy. There were twelve members of the council, one representative from each of the ten planets, Mr. Woolsey as a representative of Earth and the Atlantis expedition, and Jarek, one of Larrin's Lieutenants, as a representative of the Traveler Clan.

Lorne recognized Jarek standing off in a far corner of the room accompanied by two other Travelers. There were two of the original members of the Coalition, Kelore of Latira and Dimas of the Free Peoples of Riva. They happened to be two of the three people who had also been on the panel of judges which had passed sentence on Sheppard and his team last year. Lorne noted them talking amiably in the corner.

Ladon Radim, the leader of the Genii, was standing at the far corner of the room with a few of his soldiers. There were four other representatives from planets Lorne couldn't name along with their entourages dispersed throughout the room, leaving three council members that had not yet arrived.

Major Lorne watched as Mr. Woolsey moved deeper into the room and wasted no time in cozying up to the rest of the council. He made his way over to the serving station and began a chat with the representative from Pragos as they sampled select cuisine from Pegasus. Lorne and his men stood on the fringes, not sure exactly what they should do. At this point they were feeling quite useless. Babysitting duty wasn't exactly what they had signed on for when they volunteered for the Atlantis expedition, after all.

/

It took another hour before all the other council members arrived and they were ready to begin the council meeting. The security details for the council were not allowed into council chambers, but Major Lorne personally escorted Woolsey to the chambers and took up position outside the doors. Richard Woolsey, representative of Earth and Atlantis' interest in the Pegasus galaxy, filed into the large room with the eleven other council members and took his seat on the panel.

Having been gate traveling for hours, and with their plans changing unexpectedly at the last minute, some of the members of the council were a bit agitated to start. It did help a bit that they had been fed on arrival. But now, they were all quite ready to get on with it so that they could return to their respective planets as soon as possible. They had already spent enough time away.

"All right," began Kelore, Chairman of the Council. "We have several issues up for discussion during this session. I'm sure that I'm not the only one who wants to get this over with as soon as possible." There was a series of nods and murmurs around the council table as the members all agreed and began to settle in. "Good. Firstly, this council would like to thank all its members for attending this meeting and apologize for any inconvenience this change in venue might have caused you and your respective parties. It was a necessary security measure, I'm afraid, the reasons for which brings us to this council's first issue." Kelore turned to the woman beside him. "Shiana, the floor is yours."

"Thank you," the woman responded as she straightened up in her seat and prepared to address the council.

Mr. Woolsey stiffened a little as his eyes found her. She was Shiana of the Tribes of Santhal, the third member of the panel that had presided over Sheppard's team's "trial" the previous year. And she had been their main challenger. If she had had her way, Sheppard and his team would have been put to death. Lucky for them Woolsey had been able to make a very persuasive argument for them to the other two panel judges, not to mention promising an active participation and devotion of resources from Atlantis and Earth for the Coalition. Shiana still held the Atlantis expedition in disdain and made no efforts to hide her feelings toward them, whether it was in dealings on humanitarian missions or in council chambers.

"You all have heard whispers about why we are here at this particular location today as opposed to our original meeting site. I'm here to confirm what you have heard. The Wraith have recently begun to attack more and more frequently." Mr. Woolsey noticed that her glance found him as she relayed this information. She no-doubt still blamed Atlantis for any and all Wraith attacks since their venture into Pegasus. "They are growing relentless in their efforts to quell our uprising. For fear that our previous site had been compromised, this council meeting was relocated here to this secure site."

"Where did this Intel come from exactly?" asked Andara, representative of the Settlers of Thiredia, an outlying planet of Pegasus.

At the question Shiana looked around at the members of the council until her eyes settled on Jarek. "I leave Jarek of the Traveler Clan to answer that. Jarek?"

All eyes turned to representative Jarek. "We have reconnaissance vessels all over this galaxy. Our latest intelligence reports are telling us that the Wraith have stopped fighting among themselves. Instead they are joining forces again, coordinating attacks. Somehow, they've become aware of our alliance and have begun their own as a countermeasure. The frequency of their attacks has increased. They're not just culling anymore. Their attacks are tactical now as well."

A pointed quiet settled across the room.

"It appears the war has now truly begun," came the voice of Dimas finally.

/

/

The doors to her newly assigned quarters slid open and John came face to face with Layna. She had been in the city of Atlantis for almost a week and still John had not gotten used to the disconcertion that washed over him every time he looked into her eyes. Would he ever be able to look at her without losing his train of thought?

For the first few days of her stay in the city Atlantis' inhabitants had spent countless hours trying to help to jog Layna's memories. They had quizzed her incessantly on who she might have been, what she might have been doing alone on that planet, or even how it was that she had survived the enormous release of energy which they had assumed destroyed the Wraith Hive ships in orbit of the planet they had found her on. But it was all to no avail. She hadn't been able to recall a single detail of her life before waking up in the medical bay on Atlantis.

Layna smiled affectionately when she saw him standing at her door. Her smile was infectious. "John, what a pleasant surprise." She was dressed in the garb of his homeworld. They had been able to provide her with a few items of clothing other than the patient scrubs she'd had from her stay in the med-bay. He eyed her appreciatively. She was wearing a form-fitting pair of blue trousers and a white linen shirt. He thought she wore the clothing well. As he gave a silent thank-you to the female Lieutenant who'd provided today's outfit he realized, a bit too late, that he was staring and tried to recover.

"I know you were given the basic tour of the city the other day. But I thought," he scratched the back of his head nervously, "that you might like to see more given that you might be spending a more significant amount of time here. I believe a tour of some of the more restricted areas might help to give you a better idea of what we do here on Atlantis."

If she was going to be spending much more time in the city they would have to find something constructive for her to do. He thought that a good way to find out what that could be would be to take her around and see what grabbed her interest or what she might have a natural aptitude for. Because he knew from the moment that he saw her that he wanted her to stay in Atlantis. Whatever amount of time he would be able to spend with her, he desperately wanted it.

"Unless you have other plans for the day?" he questioned her, hoping more than anything that she didn't.

"No. No plans. And a guided tour of the restricted areas sounds fascinating." She stepped out of her quarters and the doors sealed shut behind her as she cleared the threshold. "Where to first?" she asked staring up at him with those incredible green eyes.

He forced himself to look away from her and turned to stare down the hall. Those eyes of hers were going to take some time to get used to. But he knew the best place to start the tour off. It was the heart of the city. And it was what had led him to find this incredible, mystery of a woman in the first place. "We might as well start where all the action happens. The gateroom and the control tower."

/

Four hours later, after showing and explaining to Layna the stargate, showing her the control room, the rec room, his favorite view from the east pier, and the jumper-bay complete with a demo on the puddle-jumpers' capabilities, John was running out of things to show her. Even so, he wasn't yet ready to end his day with her.

"Is that the end of the tour?" she asked him as they had circled back to the gateroom.

Throughout the entire tour she had seemed very intrigued by everything the city had to offer. Layna had posed many questions while observing the stargate in action. Watching Layna experience it all for the first time he was reminded of the first time he'd seen the gate in action. How long ago that all seemed now.

In the Pegasus galaxy, the people of its worlds used the gates to travel and to trade. The gate was not a mystery to the inhabitants of Pegasus as it would be to the general population of Earth. To Layna it had seemed a true wonder. If she had ever seen one before, it was clear to him as he watched her experience it then, that she truly could not remember it.

But she was obviously intelligent, more advanced than most of the people they had encountered in Pegasus over the years. Intelligence such as hers, even amnesia could not erase. She had asked questions about the workings of the stargate that were seemingly out of nowhere. Whoever she had been before the energy surge on that planet had erased her mind, she had had a great understanding of quantum mechanics, which was more than they could say for most of Pegasus.

Maybe she wasn't from this galaxy at all. Perhaps the energy surge was a result of whatever it was that had brought her to that planet? Maybe she or her people had some sort of transportation device they had been testing, or maybe they had gotten hold of some amazing piece of Ancient tech. Several theories had been swirling through his mind in the span of the last few hours. But only time would help to solve all of the mysteries Layna had brought to the city with her.

As he stood there in the gateroom staring at her, he wracked his brain trying to come up with another place in the city that he could show her. What he could come up with though, he wasn't sure she would be very interested in seeing. Out of options however, he resolved to ask her anyway.

"Well….. Rodney's been working on a new pet-project. His lab isn't far from here. Would you be interested in giving him a visit, seeing what kind of progress he's been making?"

She beamed across the hall at him and nodded her ascent. It seemed she didn't want the day to end either. "What exactly is this project he's been working on?" she asked as they began making their way to Rodney's lab.

"Oh, you know, it's Rodney, so it could be anything really. Most of his mad science projects are over my head. And he has so many in the works that I sometimes stop paying attention. Unless, of course, one of his projects blows a hole in the heart of my city. Then it's my problem to deal with," he told her, only half-jokingly. Not so long ago, that scenario he had posed had actually happened. It wasn't too large of a hole, but still Rodney had spent the better part of a month apologizing for the entire debacle.

Before they knew it the pair of tourists were standing outside of Rodney's lab. "Are you ready for this?" John asked her good-humoredly.

"I think so," she smiled back at him.

John was a bit wary. It was Rodney they were talking about after all. No one could ever be fully prepared for what might come in an encounter with him. And when he was working in his lab Rodney became even more peculiar than usual. They probably should have stopped by the messhall and armed themselves with some lemons first. Those were always good ammunition against Rodney's antics. This little visit would definitely prove to be interesting, John was sure of that at least.

"All right then," he said as he reached out to press the door release mechanism on the wall. The door parted and the two of them entered the lab.

As expected, they found Rodney completely engrossed in his work. He didn't even notice them as they entered his lab. John walked up beside Rodney as the man intently studied some readings on one of his computer monitors. Layna walked the perimeter of the large space, taking note of the numerous mathematical scribblings posted all over the walls. Most of the equations were nonsense to John, but Layna seemed fascinated, almost as if she understood it all as she went along.

Even with him standing at his side, Rodney didn't seem to notice John's presence in the room. "Earth to Rodney," John said as he waved his hand in front of the other man's eyes, trying to distract him from the computer screen.

Rodney shook his head and blinked the stars out of his eyes before turning to the man who had intruded into his private lair. "Sheppard, what the hell are you doing here?" he asked.

"Checking to make sure you're not blowing anymore holes in the wall," John answered smartly.

"Funny," Rodney responded, thinking the opposite. "But even you have to admit that that one's starting to get old." Nothing annoyed Rodney more than when John pointed out his failures, however intermittent they were. Which was probably why the man took so much pleasure in it, Rodney mused.

"Yeah, well I'm sure whatever you're cooking up now will provide us with more material soon enough." Rodney, determined to ignore his friend, rolled his eyes and instead began to type away at his computer. "Anyway," John continued. "I was giving Layna another tour of the city and we decided to drop by."

At the mention of Layna Rodney stopped typing then long enough to glance about the room and finally noticed that the woman was there with them in the room as well. She had her back to them still as her attention was focused on some equations drawn out on a whiteboard.

Rodney shook his head and John noticed the smirk that flitted across the man's face.

"What?" John asked.

"Nothing, I just think it's kind of ironic, is all," he answered, turning back to his work.

As usual John had no idea what Rodney was talking about. "You lost me."

Rodney made a big deal about halting his work again. He glanced pointedly in Layna's direction before he turned back to stare once again at his clueless friend. "I just find it interesting that she chose that name. A woman who wakes up claiming not to be able to remember the truth about who she is picks a name that means truth."

John stared at Rodney, expressionless. The man was just too smart for his own good sometimes. The cogs in his head spun too fast. He thought about things in ways that others didn't and oftentimes it would lead him down the path of paranoia.

John scowled at his friend. "You think too much, Rodney. This is starting to become a habit of yours and I've got to say, I don't like it."

Rodney threw up his hands in surrender and scoffed. "Oh, big surprise. You're not suspicious of the beautiful woman. When has that not happened before?" he countered. He glanced back to Layna and saw that she was reaching out her hand to touch some equipment of his that had been long forgotten in a dark corner. "Please don't touch that," he called warningly, and she quickly withdrew her hand. He hated when people touched his things. Why was it that people just went about touching random things, not knowing what they were or if they might be dangerous or not, either to themselves or to those around them? Sheppard had gotten himself into trouble on many a mission by doing exactly that.

"Sorry," she blushed as she turned away from the unusual device and moved slowly towards the two men. "John has shown me some incredible things in your city today. But your lab is one of the most interesting."

Rodney noted the intimacy reflected in the way she said the other man's name. He turned back to Sheppard. "John?" he voiced, the implication lingering heavily.

Sheppard resisted the urge to smack Rodney upside his over-inflated head. Rodney really did have a knack for irritating him in a way that no one else could. "Here's an idea Rodney. How about you try being nice for a change," John suggested. "You know, just to mix it up a bit."

"Doesn't really sound like me," he responded.

"I know."

"Do you two do this all the time?" Layna asked them curiously.

The two men turned to her with reddening cheeks. They really did bicker with each other quite often. It had turned out to be their "thing" over the years. It was just how they were, from beginning to end. Everyone on Atlantis was used to it. No one had pointed out their unique method of exchange in several years. They hadn't thought much of it since. Until now.

"Right, so what is it exactly that you're working on here Rodney?" John asked, turning to the other man and ending the awkward silence that had fallen in the room.

Rodney looked from John to Layna and then back again, a look of incredulity falling across his face. "I doubt you'd understand any of it, Sheppard. Let alone Atlantis' latest guest." He turned to Layna. "No offense," he offered her.

Again John resisted the urge to throw a swing at Rodney and instead offered a knowing smile. He was curious to see what Rodney would think of Layna's mind. It would be worth it just to see the smug look on his friend's face instantly disappear in wonder. "Humor us," he said.

Rodney sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "Waste of my time," he mumbled low under his breath as he turned back despairingly to his computer console. This time John did smack him upside his head, and even that was him showing some restraint. Rodney huffed as he began typing in a few commands to pull up a schematic of a ZPM.

A year ago, when Todd the Wraith had provided the city with two fully powered ZPM's with which to power the city, thus ending their exhaustive five year search, Rodney had put on hold his attempts to unlock the secrets of the Ancients and design his own power source. For years he had been trying to recreate a ZPM to power the city, all to no avail, and suddenly two were just dropped into his lap. His fruitless work was for naught.

But during their time back in the Milky Way, looking out at earth from the moon, it had nagged at him. Sure, they had enough power for Atlantis, but what about all the other Ancient outposts that were out there? What about all the villages they had discovered in Pegasus that were being protected from the Wraith by dying ZPM's, like the planet with all those annoying little kids?

So he resumed his work on replicating another ZPM. He'd thought that it would be easier now that he finally had his hands on fully powered examples. But that belief proved wrong the longer he tried. Six years of work on the project and he still had nothing to show for it. As smart as he was, he was still no match for the intellect of the Ancients.

"This is a ZedPM," Rodney said.

"Zed P M?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"ZPM," Sheppard corrected. "You have to forgive Rodney," he told her. "He's Canadian," was all he said by way of explanation. She had no idea what it meant to be Canadian but it sounded like the distinction meant a great deal to the two men. And it looked as if it bothered Rodney to no end when she nodded her "understanding" to John before she turned to look at what it was Rodney had pulled up on the screen. She didn't know why but she took pleasure in the annoyed expression on his face as well as the mirth she read on John's.

"A power source," she stated, looking at the schematic.

"Yes," Sheppard answered, stepping to her side. "It's what powers our city. When we first arrived here we found two of the three here were completely depleted and the third had just enough juice to provide minimal power to the city. We spent years searching the galaxy to find replacements."

Rodney rolled his eyes at Sheppard. "You done with the history lesson there pal? Good." He turned back to Layna. "It's a device that derives energy from a self-contained-"

"Self-contained pocket of sub-space time," Layna said, cutting Rodney off. "I got that," she said smartly. "Vacuum energy. One of these devices, fully powered," she looked up from the computer screen to the two men, "would yield an incredible amount of energy." Rodney's thunderstruck expression made her bold. John was right. Rodney was certainly a character. If he was going to dish it out, she would too. She figured she had nothing to lose by doing so. She could at least gain his respect. That seemed to be in short supply with him around these parts. "But you don't know how to build one. And by the looks of these specs," she began, giving them another once over, "your attempts haven't even come close."

A great silence fell in the room. John looked very pleased. Rodney, by contrast, looked uncomfortable. "We really have to figure out where the hell this one came from Sheppard."

"Why, are you afraid she might be smarter than you?" John asked.

"I wouldn't go that far. But at least now maybe I might have someone to have an intelligent conversation with." He leaned over the desk and began typing in a few more commands into the laptop. "You're right," he began. "I haven't quite figured out the whole 'harvesting of sub-space energy' thing yet. Even after years of trying to replicate the technology."

"General O'Neill did it," John quipped. "Twice," he teased Rodney, indicating the number with raised digits at the other man.

"Oh would you please," Rodney huffed. Layna couldn't hold back a chortle as John held up his hands in a gesture of backing down. "He did it with Ancient knowledge flooding his head, not on his own. And while I'm prepared to admit that doing so without that knowledge may yet be beyond our grasp, that will never stop me from trying. However, there are things that still may be." Finally, he pulled up what he had been searching for on the computer. "Take a look at this, Layna," he said moving over so that she could read the screen as well.

"Is that what I think it is Rodney?" John asked, looking over Rodney's shoulder at the screen.

"It's a copy of the Wraith database," he answered. "Well actually, it's only what we could salvage from that whole Michael debacle. Zalenka and I have been working on deciphering and translating it for the last year, hoping we might salvage some information that can help us against them in the future."

Layna looked at the glyphs running across the screen. At first glance it was just a collection of nonsensical symbols. But as she looked on at it for a few moments it began to make some sense to her.

"Do you mind?" she asked Rodney, indicating that she wanted to take his seat in front of the computer. After a short hesitation, he obliged and surrendered the seat. Layna read the information on the screen and began typing in some commands. As she did so she didn't quite know what she was doing or how she knew to do it, but something compelled her to continue on. After a few entered commands the screen began to change.

Rodney looked to Layna in astonishment. John had been lost the entire time. From the moment the glyphs had appeared on the screen he had been utterly confused. But he had been right. It was all completely worth it to witness the look on Rodney's face.

"How did you know to do that?" Rodney asked her.

"It says so right there," she answered pointing to the confusing symbols scrolling on one of Rodney's screens that was the Wraith language.

"You can read that?" John asked.

"Yes, can't you?" Layna asked, confused.

John began to sober up at this realization. What he had just learned about this woman, what she might have just learned about herself, was incredible. He himself had been in Pegasus for over six years and still could not make heads or tails of the confusing symbols and glyphs that constituted the Wraith written language. Rodney was a freaking genius and he could only just barely translate it given some time. And yet she could read and understand it all clearly, as if she had been doing it all her life. For all they knew, she had.

John walked up beside her. "This is not our language. We only first saw it six years ago when we came here, to this galaxy. It's Wraith. Only a few of us have learned to read it, but even so it's proven to be a struggle and extremely time-consuming."

"But I can read it as clear as day," she said slowly, understanding dawning.

"Yes," John answered. "You can."

"So what does this mean?" she asked. "Do you think I might be one of these Wraith you speak of?"

He looked at her pointedly and smiled reassuringly. "You are definitely not a Wraith. When we brought you here we scanned you for security and health reasons. We ran your DNA. You are human, through and through. No traces of any Wraith DNA."

"Of that at least we are sure," Rodney chimed in from across the room as he typed in some commands on his terminal. Somehow he had managed to move across the room without either of them noticing. "Ah, here it is." He lifted his laptop from its resting place on the table and walked across the room to place the device in front of Layna. "We figured out the Wraith language is a derivative of this," he said showing her the screen.

"Great, now what's this Rodney?" Sheppard asked looking on.

"It's an Ancient codex that I've been working on," he informed John. "Elizabeth was our resident Ancient translator. Since she… left, things in that department have slowed down to a crawl."

"Elizabeth?" Layna queried.

"Long story," John told her. "I'll tell you later."

Rodney turned his attention back to Layna. "Tell me, what can you make of it?" he asked her.

She studied the screen for a few moments before she reached out to the laptop to type in a few commands of her own. Rodney looked on in amazement again as the text on the screen morphed. "Unbelievable," he breathed.

"What? What is it?" John asked. He still had no idea what was going on.

"I've been working on this thing for the last year, trying to translate the language and all the codes. I hadn't even gotten close to finishing, and she just figured it all out in just a few seconds."

The room grew silent as the two men stared at Layna. "Is this a good thing or a bad thing?" she asked them, breaking the silence.

Rodney looked ominously to Sheppard. "I'm not sure just yet. But I think this means that you'll be staying with us for a while," John answered. "I believe we may have figured out a job for you here."

/

/

Layna peeked across the room at Teyla with one eye still closed shut tight. The Athosian woman was seated on the floor with her legs crossed in front of her, Indian-style. Her eyes were closed in deep concentration. The two of them had been at this for the last two hours and all Layna had to show for it was an aching back and a cramp growing in her leg. Teyla, however, seemed perfectly content.

Since she had woken up here on Atlantis Layna had been presented with one crazy idea after another from the city's inhabitants about ways to possibly jog her memory. None had taken yet. She was still an empty book with pages waiting to be filled in. Which was why she found herself here, sitting on the floor of her new quarters, her back seizing up and her legs starting to lose all sensation.

Teyla had floated the theory that deep meditation might help Layna in her efforts to recover her memories. Layna had agreed to it thinking it was no more far-fetched than any of the other ideas presented to her lately. But now she was getting tired and had long passed the stage of boredom. Meditation was definitely not her thing, nor was it proving to help with her memory issues.

She was flattered that so many people here wanted to help her. Of all the people who could have found her on that desolate planet, she was lucky that it had been them. Atlantis was an amazing city with incredible people, and the wonderful things they were trying to accomplish, all while providing aid and assistance to the other peoples of the galaxy, was something she was sure she wanted to be a part of.

So she was going to try everything she could to become one of them. She had already proven herself useful. The city had been short on a translator of the Wraith and Ancient languages, and apparently the ability to read them was one of her hidden skills. So they had set her up with a small corner in one of the community labs and for the past two weeks she had been deciphering the rest of the copy of the Wraith database that Rodney had shown her that day. It was quite an interesting read.

"You are not concentrating," Teyla scolded.

Layna smirked across the distance between herself and the other woman. Teyla's eyes were still closed but she didn't need her eyes. She had other senses, more than the average human. It was something that Layna was getting to know about the Athosian resident of Atlantis. In fact, Layna was getting to know a lot about many of the people who called Atlantis home.

"Well I'm not making any progress either," Layna answered as she unfolded her legs and began to try and work some feeling back into them. "I don't think this is going to work Teyla."

Teyla sighed and finally opened her eyes. "I suppose you may be right. Still you remember nothing from your past?" she questioned.

"Sorry," Layna responded, shaking her head.

"No, it is I who am sorry. It was not my intent to get your hopes up Layna."

"It was worth a shot." Teyla smirked at the woman's response. "What's so funny?" Layna asked.

"You sound just like him."

"Him?" Layna questioned, knowing all too well whom Teyla was referring to.

"John. You have picked up and adopted his speech patterns. The two of you must be spending a lot of time together."

"I wouldn't say that," Layna replied. "Everyone has been helpful to me since I've come here, John among them."

"Yes, that is true. It was the same for me when I first arrived here."

"You mean John?" she asked.

Teyla smiled knowingly. "Yes, from the beginning John was a true friend."

Layna was silent for a moment, her mind wandering to a place other than her quarters. "Teyla? Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course," Teyla answered. She thought she knew where this was headed.

"Is it true that you can reach into the minds of the Wraith?"

Teyla was stunned for a moment. That was not the question she had thought was coming.

"Yes, I have been able to do such a thing with very deep concentration. It's a telepathic link that I have as a result of genetic experimentation done in my lineage generations ago. Believe it or not, the Wraith scientist who conducted the experiments was only doing it to try and make his food taste better."

"That's horrible," Layna gasped. "I guess the joke was on him though, huh?"

Teyla grinned across the room. Her abilities had helped herself and her team to collect information against the Wraith as well as get out of quite a few sticky situations in the past, with the Wraith and other hostile people of the Pegasus galaxy. "Why do you ask?"

"I was thinking that maybe you might be able to use your ability to link with me. I can't get inside my mind, but maybe you can."

"My link exists with the Wraith, Layna."

"Yes, but are you sure that it's only with them? You have this…. I don't know, connection…..with everyone Teyla. You can sense things about people. Who's to say that with more concentration you can't link with them as well?"

"I do not believe that is how my abilities work."

"Rodney told me that you could sense me on that planet. You were connected to me then and it's what led you to me, yet I am not Wraith. But I am somehow different from your friends here. So maybe you might also somehow be able to read me, read my thoughts, see my past, the way you can with Wraith. You could pull the answers we need about my past right out of my head."

"I am not sure about this Layna."

"I've tried everything else Teyla. What do we have to lose by trying this?"

"Nothing, I suppose."

Teyla thought the idea over. Though she had never attempted to link with anyone other than a Wraith, she had to admit that she was somehow oddly connected to Layna. From the moment she had sensed her presence on that planet Teyla knew that something new had entered her world.

Since Atlantis had discovered the existence and origin of her abilities, with each passing year Teyla learned new things about herself. The more she practiced using her talents the more skilled she became at them. And they soon began to expand. What had once just been an innate intuition about people morphed into a genuine insight into their feelings and intentions. She couldn't exactly read the thoughts of the people around her as the Wraith could, but she could sense some of their moods and emotions as if they were her own.

With Layna, she had felt more than just her emotions reaching out to her on that dead planet. At the time she'd thought that it was just a new level of her abilities manifesting. But after getting to know Layna, she wasn't so sure anymore. There was something different about the woman, even if Atlantis' medical sensors couldn't figure out what that was. And Layna wasn't the only one who was curious to find out what that difference was.

"All right," she agreed, kneeling down in front of Layna. "I am willing to try."

"Really? Great. What do you need me to do?"

Teyla smiled wickedly at the woman she knew would quickly grow into a long-time friend here on Atlantis. "Exactly what you've been doing for the last two hours."

"Oh joy," Layna said unenthusiastically.

Teyla shook her head. Layna was exactly like John.

Layna stilled and quieted. Teyla needed silence so that she would be able to completely focus. This would be the first time she would attempt to link with a non-Wraith. She knew it would require everything that she had. And she had to prepare herself for whatever, if anything, she might find in Layna's head if this attempt was successful. So she took in a deep breath, and began.

It started with emotions. That was always easy for Teyla to pick up. Layna was feeling a bit annoyed by the hours of meditation without any progress. Underneath that, Teyla picked up a great sense of gratitude. Layna was grateful to them all so much for saving her and welcoming her into their home. She wanted so much to pay that debt back to them somehow.

Teyla dug deeper and was discomfited by what she saw. This was the problem with digging into people's minds. What you saw there were things you weren't meant to see. And what Teyla saw inside of Layna's head was John Sheppard. She pushed on through the images in Layna's mind of her friend and found something else that piqued her interest.

She saw nothing and she saw everything. Beyond Layna's memories since waking up here on Atlantis and her growing feelings for John, Teyla saw nothing in Layna's mind. The empty memories where her past should be were filled with images of infinite stars and planets and galaxies. They flooded through her mind in a continuous stream like a movie, one galaxy flowing into the next, as if she were flying through the stars herself. And it was endless. In Layna's mind was a journey through the stars that one could not travel in a thousand lifetimes. And then it ended.

Teyla's eyes snapped open.

Layna stared across the short distance at her.

"What is it? What did you see?"


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

"Incoming communication," alerted Amelia from her station at the main control console in the tower. It was night shift on Atlantis and she was on duty with a skeleton crew. Charlie shift was truly the worst, in her opinion. It was rare that anything interesting happened. It was usually a chore to keep herself awake at her console. But it looked as if that might not be a problem tonight.

Zalenka looked up from his terminal with intrigue. They had no away teams off-world at the moment. It was supposed to be a slow, unexciting night, which was how he liked it. He had no idea who could be calling at such an hour. "Who is it?" he asked as he came around the counter to her station.

"Looks like it's one of the Traveler ships," she informed.

"All right," he responded running his hand nervously through his hair, remembering the last time he had been involved with the Travelers. He had been forced to travel at alarmingly dangerous speeds onboard what he could only describe as the worst patchwork ship he ever had the misfortune to board. It was a miracle that he had survived the ordeal. He hoped he would never have to do it again. "Open the channel," he ordered warily.

Amelia nodded to him when the channel was open. "Atlantis," came a male voice over the com-line. "This is Karel, commander of the Traveler ship Anikahn."

"Yes, this is Atlantis," Zalenka answered. "Go ahead."

"Atlantis, we were on one of our patrols in the gamma sector when we intercepted a Wraith communication." There was a brief pause in the transmission. "I'm sorry to report that they've been culling every inhabited planet in the system. We've just arrived at Thanos and sent teams down. But there's nothing left, I'm afraid."

Amelia turned to Zalenka, dread filling her eyes. "Wake up Mr. Woolsey and Colonel Sheppard and his team," Zalenka ordered. "I believe the night is just getting started."

/

The gateroom of the city was a hub of activity as Layna entered in the dead of night. The news of the Wraith attacks had already spread throughout Atlantis, despite the hour. She had been awakened by the sounds of running feet in the corridor outside her quarters and had come out to investigate. And once she heard the news, she knew that she would find him here.

She saw him across the room. He was suited up in mission gear and handing out orders to his teams. Ronon stood at his side spinning his pistol over and over again, looking as if he were just itching for a fight. Rodney was immersed in his element as he was ordering his civilian scientists around. There were several men arranging gear in front of the gate and Teyla was helping them. Everyone was busy, everyone had a purpose.

The tension was high in the room. This wasn't going to be a run-of-the-mill mission. They were sending multiple teams to all the planets in the attacked system. If there were survivors of the attacks, they would find them and provide aid. If there were Wraith still patrolling, they would engage and maybe try and rescue any prisoners.

John suddenly looked up from the pad he held in his hand containing the list of inventory for the mission and across the gateroom to see her standing there staring at him. She began to make her way to him. He handed his pad over to Ronon and moved to meet her at the center of the gateroom.

"So you're off to fight the Wraith, huh?" she asked when she was standing in front of him.

"It's likely just a salvage mission at this point," John said sadly.

She was silent for a beat, looking at the activity around the room. She slowly turned her gaze back to stare up at him. "I would like to come," Layna said. "If you think it would be all right."

"I don't know," Sheppard hesitated. "It won't be pretty," he said in warning.

"Please," she begged. "I need to see for myself."

John Sheppard stared into her eyes and knew that he could deny her nothing. He knew the chances were good that they could run into Wraith, and something deep within him needed desperately to keep her from harm. But he knew that he could not keep her here on Atlantis forever. Eventually she would have to travel off-world, and today was as good of a day as any. She was right. She needed to see for herself what she was in for living here in the Pegasus galaxy.

"Fine. You can tag along with my team as long as you promise to follow every order, every command. If the Wraith are still around or come back to pick the bones, I need to know that you will listen, that you won't put your life or the lives of my team in jeopardy by doing your own thing or getting in the way."

"I promise."

"Okay, then. That's settled. Let's get you suited up."

/

It was nothing like what she had expected. All Layna saw before her was pain and suffering and loss. This was how the people of this galaxy lived, in constant fear for their lives. All the stories she had been told about the Wraith while comfortably and safely sheltered behind the protective shields of Atlantis had not prepared her for this.

The disserted dwellings were what disturbed her the most. People had settled here, built families and lives, and now it was all gone. There was nothing to show for the people who had lived here but the hollowed shells of these burned buildings. That was all the Wraith had left behind when they had culled this planet.

She looked off into the distance and saw the teams from Atlantis searching the village in vain. She knew in her heart that they would not find anyone. The Wraith were not culling only to survive anymore. Now they were paving a path of destruction towards a long and bloody war. They would cull as many villages and settlements as it took to get Pegasus to surrender to their will. The Atlantis teams had come here to help any survivors, as a rescue and salvage mission. But there was nothing left to salvage. The teams sent to the other planets in this system were reporting back the same. There was nothing left in this system to save.

She moved away from her escort team and soon found herself far out of eyesight of anyone, wandering aimlessly. She didn't know what to do with herself. They had come too late to save these people. With all their weapons and technology they had not been able to protect this village or any of the others like it left in ruins across this system. How many lives had been sacrificed? How many more would follow?

Despite their best efforts, Atlantis and Pegasus were losing this battle against a ruthless enemy. She had spent weeks on Atlantis so oblivious to this horror. But her eyes were open now. And she couldn't just go back to the protected city now and forget what she'd seen here. She had to do something, anything, to stop this from ever happening again.

The Wraith had to be stopped. And she knew from somewhere deep within herself that she had to help to accomplish that somehow. She began to make her way back to the village, back to her teams, back towards her future. She knew what she needed to do. Whether it would be just a drop in the bucket or the turning tide in the war was unknown, but she knew what her path would be now. It hadn't been luck that one of the Atlantis teams had found her on that planet. She was meant to help. And that was what she was going to do.

"We've been looking for you," John said as she walked back into the empty village. "I thought I told you to stay with the group," he said as she had reached him. He looked her over and saw that she had returned none the worse for wear. But there was something different about her. "What is it?" he asked her, concerned.

"How many people lived here?" she asked.

He sighed as he raised his gaze to look past her to an empty building. It had probably been a school. "This settlement had over seven hundred," he finally answered her.

"And all the other planets attacked today? How many there?" she pressed.

"Our estimates put the missing at over one hundred thirty-four thousand."

She lowered her eyes to the ground and said a silent prayer, to whom she did not know, but she prayed for all those lost lives nonetheless. "I never thought it would be this horrible," she told him.

"Sadly, the Wraith are getting worse in their tactics. I tried to warn you it might be this way."

She grew silent and refused to look him in the eye. It had been a bad idea to bring her here. He was a soldier. He had been in Pegasus for over six years and knew what the Wraith were capable of. He knew what losses would come in war and he and his men had been prepared for what they might find here. But she was new to all this. He was afraid this place had been too much for her too fast. He was afraid he would lose her now that she had seen this for herself and learned the reality of what a life on Atlantis, a life here in Pegasus, meant.

"I'm sorry that you had to see this. It shouldn't be this way, but it is." She was still quiet. "Please tell me what you're thinking," he begged her.

"I think what you guys do here is amazing. I think the Wraith need to be stopped. And I think, I know, I want to fight. I want to do whatever I can to bring an end to this," she said gesturing around her. "I think I can help and I want to help."

He had been wrong. This hadn't scared her away as he had feared. Instead it had ignited a fire in her. She wanted to stay and fight against the Wraith with them. She was filled with surprises and he liked that the most about her. She was strong, and fearless, and brave. And she had absolutely captivated him.

"I think we can help you with that," he found himself telling her.

/

/

Ronon plopped his tray down on the table and sat. "Anyone seen Sheppard?" he asked Teyla and Rodney as they all sat at their usual table in the main mess hall of the city.

"I haven't seen him. But I'm sure that wherever he is, Layna's in his company," answered Rodney smartly, shoving an entire roll into his mouth.

"They have been spending quite a lot of time together lately," Teyla observed.

"I wonder why," was Rodney's reply with rolled eyes.

Teyla looked across the table at him. "I am not sure what you mean?"

"She's hot," Ronon voiced helpfully around a spoonful of chili.

Teyla couldn't believe the two men she called her friends. Leave it to men to only notice the physical qualities of Atlantis' new resident and attribute that and that alone into John's growing bond with Layna. "I am sure that is not the reason John enjoys spending his time with Layna."

"I'm sure it doesn't hurt though," Rodney responded with a smirk.

Teyla shook her head in frustration. Her friends were idiots. She knew better. It was not a physical attraction that drew the two people together. How quickly they had forgotten that it had been John who had led them to Layna on that planet over a month ago. Before Teyla had been able to even sense her presence, somehow John had known that Layna was there. There was a connection between the two of them before they had even laid eyes on each other.

"Good for him," Ronon chimed in.

Teyla turned to him. "What?" she asked him.

She waited while he chewed and swallowed his latest bite. "We haven't had much time for him in our off hours lately since we got back. I've been with Amelia, Rodney with Jennifer, and you Teyla, have Kanaan and Torren. At least now, he has someone."

Teyla was stunned into silence. She realized now that she had been a bad friend lately. They all had, as Ronon had just pointed out. They had been so busy with their own lives since returning to Pegasus that they had neglected John. And she was so wrapped up in her own situation with Kanaan and Torren that she hadn't even noticed until it was John who had become absent from her life.

It would be interesting to see how things went from here between John and Layna. In all the time that Teyla had known him, he'd never been great at feelings, either having or expressing them. It seemed Layna was bringing out an entirely new side of John Sheppard. Teyla believed it was only for the better for her friend.

/

/

"Again," John ordered.

Layna picked up the P-90 from the table she stood in front of and began to disassemble it. Each piece she took away she set on the table as John watched her progress and timed her. When she was done taking it apart, she put the pieces back together again.

"Not bad," John told her as she set the P90 back on the table.

He had been quizzing and drilling her for hours on all different types of weapons used here in the city and on away missions. If she was going to join one of their expedition teams she was going to have to learn how to use each and every one of them.

She had been training for weeks now. Endless hours of hand-signals and communication codes, tactical strategies and fighting techniques against various forces, weapons and explosive training; all of it drilled into her over the last three weeks. All non-military personnel assigned permanent positions on the expedition teams underwent the same intensive crash-course. Teyla, Rodney and Ronon had all done it. Now it was Layna's turn.

"You beat Rodney's time," he commented.

Layna laughed. "Somehow, that doesn't seem like much of an accomplishment."

"Believe it or not, he's gotten surprisingly efficient. You've got to give it to him, it only took him about four years." They both laughed as John began to help her put the equipment they had been using away. "But you are picking things up quickly," he noted. "You'll be joining one of the expedition teams in no time."

"Can I ask you a question?" she asked after a few beats of silence had passed.

"Sure."

"Have you ever given any thought to how this all might end?"

"What do you mean?"

She stopped what she was doing and turned to lean against the table. She crossed her arms and stared down at her feet in contemplation. "The Wraith survive by feeding on humans," she started, then lifted her eyes back up to meet his once again. "It's their only means of sustenance. If that's the case, I don't see how this war can end any other way than either with their extinction or our submission. They won't be able to settle for anything less than a designated culling territory. Because without at least that, they'd essentially be sealing their own demise. But on the other side, I don't see how the Coalition, or any civilized society, could accept those terms and agree to doom any peoples to that fate. So my question is, are we prepared to extinguish an entire race of people to end the suffering of another?"

It was a question that had been in the backs of everyone's minds ever since they had first come to Pegasus and discovered the Wraith. How was this all to end? The Wraith were a sentient species after all. They had a right to survival just as any other sentient beings. It was not their fault that over the millennia they had evolved to a point where their only means of survival was to feed off of other sentient beings.

But their need to feed had terrorized an entire galaxy and its people. And when the Atlantis expedition learned of the nature of the Wraith and the plight of Pegasus, they couldn't stand by and let their suffering continue. So they had tried to explore different avenues of defense. Every option presented to them so far however had come with their share of disappointments.

First they had been introduced to the Hoffan drug. It was an enzyme inhibitor which prevented a Wraith from feeding from any carrier. It was an incredible step towards freedom, but there had been a major downfall to the drug. It proved fatal to over half of the human recipients and to one hundred percent of the Wraith who tried and failed at feeding from the hosts. The Hoffan people had believed that this was an acceptable risk and inoculated their entire population. When the Wraith learned of the threat the surviving Hoffans posed to them, they had wiped out the entire remaining population.

Their next hope had been the Iratus bug retrovirus that Dr. Carson Beckett had developed in order to save John from an excruciating transformation into some kind of bugman after having been infected by a pathogen that had started mutating his D.N.A.. Its intent was to extract all the D.N.A. of the Iratus bug from a Wraith, leaving behind only the human D.N.A.. It had worked well enough on John, by both stopping the transformation and restoring his humanity, that Atlantis decided to move on to the next stage of testing.

And that had led to the creation of Michael. He had been their first test subject. And he turned into one of their greatest obstacles in their battle with the Wraith. The retrovirus had proved effective on Michael and he was successfully made human, with no memory of his Wraith past. But in order to remain that way he required constant injections of the retrovirus. He soon grew suspicious of their intentions and learned who he was and what they had done to him.

Sparking off on his own, Michael regressed into a permanent state where he was neither fully Wraith nor Human, but a hybrid. Rejected as an outcast among the Wraith he began to conduct his own genetic experiments on humans on the new Taranian settlement. There he created giant insect-like beings to do his bidding.

He tainted the food supply of the Wraith by distributing the Hoffan drug randomly through the galaxy. This forced the Wraith to hunt down and exterminate every single one of the infected, leaving countless broken villages behind in their wake. But the scarcity over pure food sources also forced them to fight amongst themselves for culling territories.

This was probably one of the only things that Michael had actually done in favor of the people of Pegasus. He hated the Wraith so much for rejecting him. He had become a threat to the Wraith in his own right, which for a time had taken some of their attentions away from Atlantis and the other worlds of the dwarf galaxy.

Michael soon created other hybrids like himself to serve in his own personal army. He even kidnapped Teyla while she was pregnant with Torren in order to use the baby's genetic make-up to create an even more powerful army of superior hybrids. All in all, creating Michael had not been one of their finest accomplishments.

But even after Michael the Atlantis teams had continued to try and perfect the retrovirus, this time by trying to eliminate the Wraith's need to feed on the life-force of humans. Dr. Keller was able to try her serum out on a willing participant this time, the Wraith Todd, who had become an on-again off-again ally of Atlantis. It had turned out to work on Todd, but then he had stolen the serum and used it himself on his own Hive with dire consequences. The entire Hive had become ravenous, flesh-eating drones.

And that was the long, drawn out history of their misguided attempts to cure the galaxy of the Wraith. But Layna didn't know much about any of that yet. The mandatory history lesson of the Stargate Program was scheduled for the last week of her crash-course field training.

"We've been trying to explore other options over the years," he answered her. "There's been many a trial and error and we've ruled out many, but there are some that have possibilities, though I admit they may still need work."

"I'd like to hear about those ideas," she said curiously.

"How about I show you instead?"

/

The lab where doctors Keller and Beckett conducted their research was an expansive series of inter-connected rooms located in the medical wing of the city. It was a part of Atlantis that Layna had never seen before, even though it was just a few short meters away from where she had first woken up to find herself on Atlantis. She and John walked into the lab to find it completely empty but for Dr. Carson Beckett himself.

"Hey Doc, nice to see you back in the city," Sheppard said in greeting to the other man.

"Bloody good to be back," the man answered, his Scottish accent even heavier than usual.

"Where's Dr. Keller" John asked.

"Aye, have you forgot?" he asked as he puttered around with some sort of stationary lab equipment. "She's away on Catarus helping with the vaccinations for that Qekari outbreak."

"Oh right," Sheppard said, cringing at the thought. Qekari was the Catar version of the flu, only it also came along with a bad case of boils. He was sorry for Jennifer, and also for Rodney when she finally came home. "Well anyway, you can help us then, Doc. Your lucky day, you get to show off how brilliant you are."

"Aye, we clones love to show off our intellect. It distracts from the tails and extra thumbs," he quipped smartly, offering up a charming smile.

Layna leaned in conspiratorially towards Sheppard. "Clone?" she whispered.

"Uh huh," he mumbled. "Don't worry. You'll read all about it soon enough. You're gonna love the final exam," he said smiling before he turned back to Beckett. "Doctor Beckett, this is Layna. Layna meet Dr. Carson Beckett. You would have met him sooner but he went off-world shortly before your arrival here."

Layna extended her hand to the man. "It's nice to meet you Dr. Beckett."

"A fair lass such as yourself, you can call me Carson. And it's very nice to meet you as well Miss Layna," he said shaking her hand.

"So how was your trip, Doc?" John asked. "And how's your mother?"

Carson Beckett had recently returned to Atlantis after spending over three month's leave back on Earth. After over sixteen months of cutting through all the Air Force red tape of declaring himself undead and declassifying his very existence, he had finally been able to reunite with his loved ones on Earth. Even still, it had taken an extremely elaborate cover story about being stranded in the arctic and a misidentification of a body to explain his three year absence to the world.

The original Carson Beckett had been killed here in the city in an explosion over three years ago. But in a raid of one of Michael's genetics labs almost two years ago John's team had discovered a living, breathing clone of the greatly missed Doctor Beckett, who'd had no idea that he was a clone but instead believed that he was a prisoner of Michael's waiting to be rescued by his friends on Atlantis.

But no one in the city cared much that the man returned to them was a clone. Aside from a few memories here or there and an immunity to a Wraith feeding due to the Hoffan drug coursing through his system, he was the exact same man. Atlantis only cared that their friend had returned to them. It didn't matter to them how.

"Aye, she's doing fine now. It's a good thing your Air Force explained the situation to her in advance. Otherwise she might have keeled over from a coronary when I knocked on the door. As it was she wasn't ready to let me leave when it was time for me to return. The Daedalus practically had to beam me out of her arms," he explained animatedly. "Anyway, enough about me," he said turning back to Layna. "What's a lass like you doing hanging around with the likes of the Colonel on this fine day, might I ask?"

"Field training," she answered with a wide smile. She decided she very much liked Dr. Beckett.

"But we're here to talk about the latest retrovirus trial?" Sheppard interjected.

"Ah, that bane of my existence," he said disappointedly. "Did it have to be that? You know that bloody thing has been driving me batty for the better part of six years. Every single step towards a breakthrough always turned out to be two steps backward. Bloody pain that is, I tell you," he complained.

"Well how's it coming along with the latest version of pain?" John asked.

"Dr. Keller and I have been trying to perfect the last batch she tried on your Wraith friend Todd. We were trying to figure out why it was successful on him and yet so very not on his Hive. As it happens, there's a slight difference in the chemical make-up of the Wraith drones that's not present in the superior Wraith, the officers or the Queens. As far as we can tell we've isolated and corrected the problem but there's no real way to tell if it will work without additional testing. But in order to do that we're going to need more test subjects."

"Does that mean what I think it does?" Layna asked, breaking the silence that had fallen.

"Yeah," John said nodding. "We're going Wraith hunting."

/

/

The planet designated M786Z3 was one rarely visited since the Wraith had culled every last inhabitant over two years ago. It had been one of the planets where Michael had distributed the Hoffan drug and for that reason the Wraith had left absolutely nothing behind. And that was precisely why it suited the purposes of the Atlantis teams perfectly today.

There were two four-man teams involved in the operation with a cloaked jumper hovering close for back-up. Colonel Sheppard was leading his regular team of Teyla, Rodney and Ronon, and Major Lorne was leading two of his regular team members, Lieutenants Jefferies and Ayala with Layna tagging along. This operation would be serving as her field test. She had already passed the exam on the history of the Stargate program and if she passed this as well she would be approved for field ops and assigned a permanent position with one of the off-world expedition teams.

The two ground teams had parted ways once they'd arrived through the gate. Each team had their own part to play in order to complete the mission. Catching a Wraith was apparently no easy task. And today they needed to capture at least two. For Dr. Beckett to successfully test his latest version of the serum they would need to test it out on both a Wraith drone as well as on an officer.

As she followed behind her teammates Layna made sure to do exactly as they did. She would not let this mission be a failure because of a misstep on her part. She had every intention of earning a permanent place among them. Everything about them she had learned made her want to stay. She wouldn't forgive herself if she didn't give herself every opportunity to stay and help. And she had to admit, her want to help them was not her only incentive for staying.

The double click over the radio put everyone on alert. It was the signal from the other team that the trap was set. Any minute the Wraith could be upon them. It was a certainty that they would come. They would come because they were hunters, hunters who never tired of the hunt. They took great pleasure in hunting down their prey. But this time they were the prey. They just didn't know it yet.

Layna waited nervously for the next signal from the other team. Three clicks meant the Wraith had come with Darts, four meant they were on foot, five meant the plan the Atlantis teams had devised for catching the Wraith wouldn't work and they were all screwed. She prayed it wasn't five. As she waited though, tucked between a tight space between a pair of trees for cover, she realized that the nervousness she felt had nothing to do with her evaluation.

She was filled with nervous excitement about meeting a Wraith up close and personal for the first time. Even with all she'd heard and observed about them in her time here she found their species quite intriguing. They were a race that had evolved from the combined genetic gene pool of humans and the Iratus bug, two completely unique and different species. That, in and of itself, was amazing. But their abilities and the applications behind them made them all the more interesting. Teyla was a testament to the good their abilities could do when not devoted to the evil task of culling.

The distinct clicks were heard in her earpiece and Layna and the others stilled. The Wraith had brought their scouting darts. She looked around and spotted the other members of her team taking up their positions. She tucked herself into the nearest crevice she could find and settled in. She had read all about the Wraith darts and their beaming tech and she did not plan on being swept up by one of them. Not a second after she had three darts swarmed over her team's position. They all watched quietly and patiently for the darts to move on before they made their way to their secondary positions. And then they heard the explosions.

/

"Nice shot," John said to Ronon as the team watched the burning debris of the third Wraith dart tumble out of the sky. Ronon shrugged his shoulders indifferently. Any opportunity to hurt the Wraith, and he would not hesitate. He had taken out all three darts in just a few short seconds from their vantage point a few clicks away from the planet's gate.

"I could have done that," Rodney scoffed. His three team members just turned and stared at him.

"So," John began, putting aside the Rodney of it all, and turning to the task at hand. "Moving on. We still have some Wraith to catch. Let's pack it up." With the Wraith darts down the teams no longer had to worry about being swept up by a beam and they now only had to contend with the ground soldiers sent to the planet to investigate. Sheppard activated his com. "Lorne, are you in position?" he asked.

"Affirmative," came Major Lorne's voice over the com channel. "We're in place and on schedule Colonel."

Lorne's team had doubled back to the gate after the Wraith had come through. Part of the operation depended on them dialing back to Atlantis and keeping the gate active so that the Wraith would not be able to call in for reinforcements, which was exactly what the cloaked puddle-jumper had done. Lorne's teams' objective was to secure and guard the gate afterwards. Today, the Atlantis teams were using the Wraith's standard operating tactics against them. It would make victory that much more satisfactory.

Their gear packed, the Colonel's team began making their way to their secondary position. "I really could have made that shot," Rodney said to Teyla as he walked by her side. "I've been spending a lot more time on the target range."

Teyla smiled politely to her friend. "Yes Rodney, I have no doubt that your skills have greatly improved."

"Yeah, to average," Ronon added as he passed by the pair, and Teyla found herself holding back a grin to try and avoid further hurting Rodney's feelings.

"Not all of us can be Captain America, Ronon," Rodney countered, calling after the man.

"Who?" both Ronon and Teyla questioned simultaneously, turning with confused expressions to Rodney.

"You know, it really sucks when you guys don't get any of our references," Rodney said.

"That's what I've been saying for the last six years," John piped in. "But really Rodney. Give it a rest. We're almost there and we don't need any of your usual distractions getting in the way of the mission."

"About that," Rodney returned. "Remind me again why we are actively trying to engage the Wraith, the very beings we've spent the last six years actively running and hiding from?"

"Because," Ronon began. "Your girlfriend needs to test her latest serum on someone, and you don't exactly qualify as a volunteer."

"Though you do share a certain few commonalities," John added smartly.

"Ha ha, very funny Sheppard," retorted Rodney. "As brilliant as Jen is, we don't know that this serum will work any better than the last," he complained.

"That's why we call it a test," Ronon grumbled as he kept moving at Teyla's side, his face a mask of disdain as he stared across at Rodney.

Rodney continued on undeterred. "So how many times are we going to have to do this?" he whined. The prospect of even more deliberate encounters with the Wraith was not sitting well with him at the moment.

"There is no way to predict such a thing," Teyla responded.

"Let's just say this may be a reoccurring adventure for us, Rodney," John said.

Ronon smiled appreciatively at the grimace that passed across Rodney's face with the news. "Oh you just love the idea of that, don't you?" Rodney accused to the man when he saw his uncontrollable grin.

"He does love a good Wraith encounter," Teyla said.

"Good, he's about to have a really great time then," John said as the team had finally reached their destination. Sheppard activated his com. "Sheppard to Schwartz, come in."

"Go for Schwartz," came the disembodied voice of the other man over the open com channel.

"What's the sit-rep?" he asked, instinctively looking up to the sky in a vain attempt to pinpoint the position of the cloaked jumper.

"I'm in position Colonel. Major Lorne and his team are guarding the gate."

"And the Wraith?"

"They're right where we want them, sir."

/

The first glimpse Layna had of the Wraith as they approached the gate gave her momentary pause. She took in the pale blue-grey skin, the pointed black-stained teeth, the long stark-white hair, and the toe to neck leather they shrouded themselves in. It was a lot to take in. She could see why the galaxy was terrified of them. The very image of them was enough to send a shiver down her spine.

She managed to shake the feeling off in a moment, the budding fighter within her coming to the surface. Layna and the rest of Major Lorne's team moved to their cover positions around the gate just before the ground between them and the Wraith exploded in a fiery blaze dividing the two forces. The flames caught the accelerant the Atlantis teams had spread when they first arrived through the gate and the inferno wrapped a large fiery circle around the five members of the Wraith advance ground team.

Lorne and his team moved from their cover positions to surround the scorching ring, their weapons trained on the Wraith within. Colonel Sheppard's team emerged from the brush behind the Wraith and joined them. A second later the jumper decloaked over their heads. Two of the Wraith drones made a move towards their weapons and in an instant they were down on the ground, stunned from blasts from Ronon's energy pistol.

"Anyone else want to try something?" Sheppard asked.

The three standing Wraith soldiers grimaced menacingly at the Atlantis teams. The highest ranked among them, a Commander, inclined his head to Sheppard. "You set a trap," he said. Every word the Wraith uttered sounded like a growl. "What a revolutionary accomplishment for your species."

"We've come a long way," John said dryly. "Now are you guys going to play nice or do you want to end up like your friends here?" he asked, indicating the drones lying immobile on the ground.

The Wraith Commander looked around at the forces surrounding himself and his men. They were behind a wall of fire, more than half a dozen enemy forces were training guns and stunners on them, and an ancient jumper with superior weaponry was hovering above. "It would appear we have no choice."

"Got that right," Ronon said, his finger itching mere nanometers over the trigger of his pistol.

"Good." Sheppard nodded to Lorne to move in. "This is what's going to happen then. My men are going to secure you, and then we're all going to take a little trip."

"Our people will be here soon, looking for us," the Wraith Commander informed them. John was thinking of calling him Charlie. Something about the Wraith made him think of a guy of the same name that he went through basics with so many years ago. Despite training alongside one another, the two of them were always at odds. He sensed his relationship with Charlie the Wraith would be much the same.

"We'll be long gone before they get here," John responded.

He liked the twitch he registered flick across Charlie's face.

"Major Lorne, hook 'em up," he ordered.

Lorne nodded his acknowledgement to the Colonel and motioned for his men to approach the Wraith while the Colonel's team kept their weapons trained. The men doused the fire and moved in to shackle the Wraith officers. They wouldn't take any chances of the Wraith taking an opportunity to feed on one of them. They had created special bindings years ago just for the Wraith. They were made out of solidified naquadah, strong enough to counter their superior strength and also keep their arms bound at their sides preventing them from feeding. The Atlantis teams always felt they could breathe a little easier around the Wraith when they were secured in the fastenings.

After the Wraith officers were secure, Lieutenants Jeffries and Ayala also moved to shackle the unconscious drone soldiers and tried lifting them over their shoulders. They proved to be very cumbersome. Ronon and Rodney reluctantly put away their weapons and moved to join the two men to help in carrying the downed Wraith to the gate. Sheppard and Teyla began walking towards the gate after them to dial back to Atlantis. Major Lorne motioned towards the gate with his P90 and the Wraith captives slowly began to move in that direction in single file.

Layna followed attentively behind everyone. Being at the back of the group she was afforded a far better position than any of her group, which was why she was able to see the exchanged looks that passed between the Wraith officers. She didn't like what she saw. They were planning something, and whatever it was, she was certain that it wouldn't be good for her or her teams.

The gate was still active as they approached. They cleared a path for the jumper and watched as it disappeared ahead of them through the event horizon. But as all of their attentions were drawn to the jumper and the gate, the Wraith decided to make their move. The two lower ranking Wraith soldiers somehow managed to break the manacles off of their leader who then made an instant move towards Major Lorne as the man's back was to them.

"Lorne, watch out."

The weapon blast hit the Wraith Commander just as he'd begun to reach his arm out to the Major in preparation for a feed. As the Wraith went down, Major Lorne turned to look to his rescuer and found Layna standing across the distance holding one of the Wraith stunner rifles.

Colonel Sheppard rushed over to their position at the sound of the weapons fire. He saw the Wraith soldier on the ground, the gun in Layna's hands, the surprise on Lorne's face. "What happened?"

"I think she may have just saved my life," Lorne informed as he kneeled to the ground and reached out to make sure his would-be killer was still alive. Lucky for them, the Wraith stunner worked just as well on them as it did their prey when the settings were set high enough.

"It looks as if she has definitely passed her field test," Teyla commented as she kept an eye on the two remaining conscious Wraith.

"I'd say," Sheppard said, first eyeing Layna with pride and admiration and then turning to the Wraith now being held in check by Teyla's P90. "You guys may be more trouble than you're worth."

"How many did Dr. Beckett say that we needed again?" Teyla asked pointedly.

Ronon grinned mischievously as he answered her. "Two," he said as he turned his stunner on the remaining Wraith and fired.

"It'd be a waste not to take them back," Layna voiced just after the Wraith crumpled to the ground, even if it was a moment too late.

John considered this. The more test subjects they had, the better for them. They would be able to run multiple studies. He turned back to Ronon as the man was still admiring his handiwork. "F.Y.I., I'm not going to be the one to carry them through the gate."

/

/

John tossed the covers off of his legs and sat up in bed. He'd been up for hours, tossing and turning, unable to sleep, one thing running through his mind. Layna. He had several decisions to make in regards to the woman, and the more he mulled them over the more undecided he became. She had passed her field test with flying colors, impressing not only John and his team but major Lorne as well. Lorne had been so impressed with her in fact that he had put in a request to have her assigned a permanent position on his team, which was what had John's mind so busy tonight.

Lorne's team was just as active as his own and got themselves into as many precarious situations. If John assigned her to the team, she would be thrown into the middle of all of that, and every time she was sent out on a mission would be a risk he would be taking at losing her forever. He had hoped to maybe assign her a position on one of the humanitarian teams which were all low-risk and mostly only provided aid to the planets of Pegasus. But to deny her this opportunity, something she was clearly suited for, would be entirely selfish on his part.

Tossing his legs over the side of the bed, he stood and then dropped to the floor. For the next forty minutes he tried distracting his mind with endless push-ups and crunches. But the longer he went on and the more he made his body hurt, the more his efforts proved fruitless. And then the bell at his door chimed.

Pushing himself up off of the floor and back onto his feet John made his way to the door in the pitch darkness of his quarters on autopilot. He ran his hand over the sensor by the doors and they slid open. He squinted against the light until he saw who was standing there staring up at him. The sight of her standing there jolted him. It was as if his thoughts of her had summoned her to his door.

"Sorry to wake you," Layna said.

"You didn't," he answered. "What's up?"

"I couldn't sleep. So I went for a walk. And I found myself coming here."

"You did huh?" He could hear voices down the hall. It sounded like people were headed in their direction. Given the hour, if anyone saw her standing outside his door, rumors would spread like wildfire across the city. "Why don't you come in?" he offered.

"Yeah, okay," she said stepping inside.

The doors closed behind her. He switched on the lights to half-illumination and watched her as she walked slowly around the perimeter of his quarters. She stopped when she came to his Johnny Cash poster and studied it.

"What were you doing up?" she asked, eyeing him and the telling sheen glistening his skin.

"Same reason. Couldn't sleep."

"Why not?" she asked. She turned to him. He didn't answer her question. They both stood there just staring at one another in silence. With any other person it might have been an uncomfortable situation, but here, with each other, it was oddly contenting. "Can I ask you a real question?" she finally asked.

"Shoot."

"Why is it that whatever I do, or say, or think, my every action or thought comes back to you?"

'So this was it', John thought, 'truth-telling time'. It had to come sooner or later. "Ever since I first meet you I've been asking myself that same question," he admitted.

He realized as he looked at her that this was not the first time he had found himself feeling this unexplainably drawn to a woman. Years ago, here on Atlantis, he had felt the exact same way. It had been with Chaya Sar, the Ancient forced to protect only the planet Proculus from the Wraith and to watch helpless as she had no choice but to leave the rest of the galaxy as their prey. From the beginning he had been drawn to her, as he was to Layna. He had felt this unending trust. As he stood there, staring into Layna's eyes, he realized that's how he had felt about her from the beginning as well. But with her it was even more intense, more magnetic, this draw he felt toward her.

She walked towards him. "What do you suggest we do about it?"

"We could go on fighting it a little while longer. But we'll probably just end up right back here."

"Do you want to fight it?" she asked looking up at him with those eyes.

And in those eyes he lost himself. No matter how hard he tried, he would always find himself back here, with her. He knew this for a certainty as he looked at her now. There would be no point in trying to fight it. So he wasn't going to anymore.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Ronon walked down the line formation of his men. They had been a sorry bunch of farmers and dwellers when he'd first come to them six weeks ago but now they were well on their way to becoming a competent army. The Coalition had spent the time Atlantis had been back in the Milky Way galaxy scouring the worlds of Pegasus for volunteers like these men. If they were going to defeat the Wraith, they were going to need an army. So they were building one, and he had been hand-picked to train and lead them.

Colonel Sheppard had been the one to assign him to the task. Apparently, in another timeline, another possible future of theirs, Ronon had done the exact same thing. It was said that he had done a pretty good job of it before. John's reasoning was that one version of Ronon would do just as well as another. It was proving right so far.

On his home planet of Sateda he had been a fearless warrior, a member of a great fighting force against the Wraith for his people. They had been able to make advancements in their technologies and defenses unlike any other peoples inside the Pegasus galaxy. They amassed a superior army and fought with everything they had. Despite all that, his people were defeated. And he was now one of only a handful of Satedans left alive.

His people had been unsuccessful at defeating the Wraith, but that did not mean that he would stop fighting. He had fought side by side with John Sheppard and his people for the last five years. He had found a new home with them after so many years of being alone, on the run from the Wraith hunters chasing after him. But as much as he loved fighting alongside them, they were not his soldiers.

Now he had been given the opportunity to rebuild what was taken from him years ago. These men he had been provided by the Coalition would be a great start towards that. They were his men now, under his command, with the skills he was teaching them, Satedan skills. John was coming along nicely in his training, but he was only one man. This army of foot soldiers of Ronon's may not be the true Satedans of his lost home, but when he was done with them they would sure as hell fight like they were.

Atlantis had secured them this uninhabited planet with a functioning gate, designated the Beta site. It was moderately safe from a Wraith attack as long as they didn't draw any attention to themselves. It was good practice to have a few designated safe planets across the galaxy with which to escape to should they run into trouble. And in their time here, the Atlantis expedition had secured and set up bases on many such planets.

Ronon's attention was drawn down to the end of the line where Vartos had fallen out of formation. Like any other fighting force in history, they were only as strong as their weakest link. And in the case of this lot, that man was Vartos. He was a kid really, the youngest of the men sent to Ronon, barely eighteen. He fought better than Rodney, but it was still nowhere near to Ronon's standards, or that of any Satedan soldier. And if Vartos' skills were any indication of how far away they were from being a combat-ready unit, they were still a ways away from taking on the Wraith.

Ronon was about to severely reprimand the boy before his own eyes followed the path that Vartos' had taken. Off in the distance he could make out a single figure making its way toward them. As it neared, Ronon recognized John Sheppard.

"Break up into teams," Ronon ordered his men. "Start the sparring drills."

Ronon moved to meet with his friend as his men paired off around them. John looked on at the scene unfolding before him appreciatively. "Looks like things are coming along well," he said as the two men finally met in the middle of the training field.

"Yeah."

"Feel like home yet?" he asked, with a smirk.

"Well, some of them are making better progress than you did," he joked. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to oversee the delivery."

"Delivery?"

"Yeah, we come bearing gifts." John Sheppard gestured off into the distance to two puddle-jumpers. There were teams of marines off-loading large crates. Ronon grinned as he realized what the men had brought with them.

"Is that what I think it is?" Ronon asked.

"Nothing but the best for you Chewy."

Ronon grinned at John's term of endearment with full understanding. That had not always been the case. He had finally watched the movie that the nickname John had taken to calling him several years ago had come from. It was an old space saga from Earth named Star Wars. The character Chewy was the overly hairy and yet always dependable sidekick of a Captain Han Solo. It was a bit funny to Ronon because all this time he'd considered John his sidekick.

"You think we should use some?" Ronon asked. "You know, just to see make sure they work?"

John smiled appreciatively. "I thought you'd never ask."

An hour later, all the gear and supplies off-loaded and unpacked from the jumpers, the entirety of Ronon's army was huddled around John and Ronon as they stood a suitable distance from a couple of targets they had set up. The men looked on in amazement at the weaponry the two were wielding. Aside from the weapons of the Wraith, most of them had never seen anything more advanced than a club of wood or a rock.

"Now this is the P90," Sheppard said as he turned to Ronon's men demonstrating the weapon. "It's compact but very powerful. It features a compact bullpup design with an integrated reflex sight and fully ambidextrous controls, a unique top-mounted magazine and small-caliber, high-velocity 5.7x28mm ammunition."

The entire line of men stared at him blankly, including Ronon, who rolled his eyes and shook his head sadly at him. Then the other man grabbed one of the P90s from the box and stepped up beside him. With one hand he aimed the weapon at the target and fired. It was only a three-second burst but the forty-five rounds expelled completely obliterated the head of the Wraith pictured on the paper target Ronon had fired at. Ronon turned back to his men who stared amazed.

"That's what it does," he stated.

The field was silent.

"So who wants to try it first?" John asked.

/

/

The lab where they were conducting the trials was a bit crowded for Dr. Beckett's liking. Aside from himself and Dr. Keller, there were also present three of their lab assistants, two nurses, the two Wraith test subjects strapped down and lying unconscious on the gurneys, and four marines standing guard to make sure the Wraith were kept in check if they were to suddenly regain consciousness at any point. The last thing the city needed were Wraith on the loose, and Carson had to admit, he felt a little more at ease with the men in the room with him.

The room was made even more crowded as Colonel Sheppard walked through the doors. "How's it coming Doc?" he asked.

"We were just about to start with the initial tests," Jennifer said.

"Aye, you're just in time to see if this brilliant idea of ours will actually work," Carson chimed.

"Well, if it doesn't work this time around, I've got three more just like these guys parking it in the holding cells."

"Don't remind me," Carson said as he readied a syringe with the newest serum.

As he watched, John got a flashback of his own injections years ago after he had been infected by Ellia and his DNA had begun to mutate. He had had to undergo weeks of the anti-Wraith DNA injections to reverse the process and revert back to his complete original human form again. It still gave him shivers every time he thought about that whole experience. He had never felt so out of control of his own actions and thoughts before or ever since. It was not something he ever wanted to have to go through again.

"Should we expect them to have as violent of a reaction to this as Michael did?"

"Well, this is closer to the serum used on Todd, but anything is possible, Colonel," Jennifer answered. "We have no idea what to expect at this point."

"Yeah well, at least we've learned something from the mistakes of our past," John said, indicating the armed guards in the room with them.

Rodney walked into the room just then. "You guys haven't started yet?" he asked when he noticed the scene he'd just walked into the middle of.

"What's the rush?" Jen asked, eyeing him.

"We've been hosting a slew of Wraith for the better part of two months while you guys got your act together with this anti-Wraith juice. If we keep it up much longer they're going to need to be fed. And I for one don't want to be on the menu."

"Having been on the menu before," John said. "I don't recommend it."

"Aye, I second that," Beckett said. He looked to Jen. "Ready to begin Doctor Keller?"

She nodded her ascent and moved to the med-bed with the unconscious drone Wraith. With Rodney and John watching on the sidelines with the marine guards, Carson moved to the side of the unconscious Wraith Lieutenant.

"Administering round one of Serum 326 to patients Alpha Zero and Beta Zero," Beckett said aloud for the experiment recording as he and Jennifer administered the dosages to the Wraith.

When they were done both John and Rodney looked to the doctors expectantly. "Now what?" John asked.

"Now we wait and see," Jen answered him.

/

/

It was something that had been unheard of until now, a meeting of this magnitude among the Wraith. But never before had it been so necessary for them to form an alliance such as this either. The return of Atlantis and the united fighting efforts of the rest of Pegasus had forced them to change many of their old ways. If Wraith were to survive another ten millennia as the dominant species of this galaxy they would have to do so as a whole, as one united entity. At least on that the humans got it right.

There were now a sum total of thirty-seven hive ships left in their ranks, each with its own compliment of thousands of Wraith soldiers and officers. But there were only five Queens remaining. The war with the humans and their own civil war had greatly weakened them. They had lost a great deal, including several of their precious queens. But now was a time for rebuilding, and it all started with this meeting.

The last armada of ships approached the larger group of Hives surrounding the planet selected for the summit, the one in the lead carrying the last Wraith Queen to arrive. A Cruiser from the lead ship flew out of the Hive hanger bay and made its way to the surface of the planet. There was a single structure, composed of the same organic compound as that of all the Hives. It was neutral ground chosen for that very reason. The Cruiser docked outside of the main compound and the Queen onboard exited with both her entourage and security escort in tow.

"My Queen, are you sure that this is the correct decision?" asked her closest Commander as they walked the corridor to the hall.

"You dare question your Queen?" she said turning on him, contempt in her glare.

He lowered his gaze to the floor between them and took a self-preserving step backward. "Forgive me my Queen. I only meant that we do not yet know if we can trust the other Hives or the other Queens. How can we be sure that this is not some sort of elaborate plan to eliminate us?"

"Do you take me for some kind of fool, that I have not considered this myself? I have considered every option, every possible outcome of this meeting, and I have a contingency plan for every one of them. Any attempts to attack by the other Hives will be dealt with. But on the chance that this alliance of the Hives against the humans will actually work our attendance here is a necessity. And you will do well to remember never to question my decisions again, or it is you who will be dealt with. Is that understood?"

"Yes, my Queen," he said solemnly, bowing his head in obedience.

The only sounds heard the rest of the way to the meeting chambers were the clomping of their boots on the ground. When they arrived at the doors to the grand room they were greeted by a small contingent of armed drones who were guarding the door. By the looks of them, the Queen and her men were already late for the party.

The doors opened to reveal the four other Queens of the newly formed Council, each seated on their own throne assembling a circle with an interface at its center. The Queen moved to take the remaining throne, her two Commanders taking their place on either side of her as the other Commanders in the room stood beside their own Queens.

"How nice of you to finally grace us with your presence," said one of the Queens hostilely to her.

"And yet I see that my absence has not kept you from starting," observed the first Queen, her eyes and tone as hostile as that of her counterpart.

"Let us not fight," voiced another Queen with hair as dark as a black hole. "We came here to discuss our options regarding the humans. This Alliance of theirs must be dealt with at once. We do not have time to sit here and bicker amongst ourselves over trivialities."

"Agreed," said the first Queen begrudgingly, nodding her ascent. She turned to the Queen who had so rudely greeted her with a cold glare. "Don't let me keep you any longer," she said.

"As I was saying," began a fourth Queen with bright red hair who was seated directly across from the first. "This galaxy has sustained us for ten thousand years, but that time is now coming to an end."

"What are you suggesting?" asked the hostile Queen who had been sitting to her left. "We forfeit it to the humans? Cower and run?" she mocked.

"On the contrary," was the red-headed Queen's answer. "I'm suggesting we win this war as the clear and undisputed victors. And we do that by sending a very clear message. The humans of this galaxy fight against us. An untold number of them are tainted with this Hoffan drug and we have no way of distinguishing them from those who are not. They no longer fear us as they should. It is time we rid ourselves of them once and for all."

"You have a plan?" asked the dark-haired Queen to her right, the obvious voice of reason in the room.

"We destroy everything. Every human, every planet that stands in our way. We leave nothing untouched, nothing unscorched."

The air was thick with tension all around. No one moved, no one said a word. All in the room knew that this plan was extreme even by Wraith standards. It was the silver-headed Queen's second who spoke, breaking the utter silence that had fallen in the room.

"My Queen," began the Wraith Commander cautiously as he whispered at the fifth Queen's side. "Forgive me, but the humans are still our only means of sustenance. How do you expect the Hives to follow such orders knowing they would be destroying their only food supply?"

"Tainted," his Queen spat at him.

"That may be, but though tainted it is still something. By destroying the humans outright we would be destroying ourselves."

"You speak where it is not your place," she scolded him harshly. However, she considered his counsel. "Even so, you are not wrong," she said turning back once again to address the Council of Queens. "My Commander makes a good point. What Wraith would follow us to their own ruin?" she questioned.

"There is another way," interrupted the fourth Queen. "There has always been another option. A far more plentiful feeding ground. There is only one thing standing between us and it."

"Atlantis," hissed the dark-haired Queen.

"Exactly. Until now their presence here has been a hindrance. They came here and awakened us. They set the worlds of this galaxy against us and it has not been as easy for us as it has in the past. But now their presence here is a gift. The solution is simple. We find Atlantis, we take it. And then we use it to get to Earth."

The first Queen had to admit, the plan was brilliant. They had been trying to get to Earth ever since they'd learned of its existence. Never before had there been such an abundant source for them to feed on. If the rumors of Earth's population were true, there would be over six billion humans there just waiting to be culled. A population of humans so large would sustain the Wraith and all their numbers for quite some time.

The promise of finding Earth would be an offer no Wraith among them would be able to pass up. Earth was the prize, and all they needed to do to get there was to continue on the path they were already on. Nothing the humans did would stop them from finding it. Pegasus would soon fall and then the real fun would begin.

/

/

It was a buzzing noise that woke her up. Layna opened her eyes to find herself wrapped in John's arms, and she smiled happily to herself. She'd woken up that way almost every morning for the last three months. When she didn't it was only because either she or John were on an off-world mission and it was those times when she realized just how peaceful a sleep she received when shared with him.

She yawned sleepily, wrapping John's arm around her tighter and pressing herself deeper into the curves of his naked body behind her. And then she heard the buzzing that had woken her again. Reluctantly, Layna sat up in the bed, listening to try and pinpoint where it was coming from. As she listened, she noted it sounded more like a tiny voice than a buzzing. Realizing what it was, she grabbed her com and shoved it hurriedly in her ear.

"Layna, come in," she heard Major Lorne's voice over the channel.

"Yes, Major, I'm here," she responded just above a whisper, trying not to wake a sleeping John beside her.

"Are you planning on joining us anytime soon?"

She looked around until her eyes hit the clock on the wall. They had overslept and she was now twenty minutes late for her pre-mission brief. She and John had had way too much fun the night before and had only fallen asleep less than three hours ago.

"Sorry, Major, I'll be there in five minutes."

She rushed out of the bed and quickly threw on her black tactical mission suit. She brushed her teeth, ran a comb through her hair and three minutes later was ready to walk out of the door to John's quarters.

"Where do you think you're going?" she heard John's sleepy voice ask her as she reached the door.

She halted her movement and turned to glance at him over her shoulder with a smile. "Z73-B64," she answered.

"No," he said shaking his head. "Come back to bed." He reached out to her. "I'll tell Lorne I've reassigned you for the day."

"And just where exactly will you tell him this new assignment of mine is?" she asked as she made her way back to the bed.

"I'm sure I can come up with something," he answered mischievously.

"You are a bad influence," she responded smiling before she leaned over the bed to kiss him.

"I think we learned who the bad influence was last night," he responded trying to pull her back into the bed with him.

Playfully she fought him off. "I would love nothing more than to stay in bed with you all day but I have to go, I'm late," she told him. "And don't you have that thing with Ronon?" she asked him pointedly before she reached over to the nightstand where his watch was sitting and tossed it to him.

Reluctantly he grabbed it and read the time. "Crap, Chewy's gonna murder me," he said, slowly rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Ronon was coming back to the city from the Beta site where he trained his men for a couple of days. The two of them had set up a workout session together. And according to his watch he was already ten minutes late.

She smiled and kissed him again. "We can finish where we left off last night when I get back," she said before she pushed herself off of the bed and headed back to the door. "Hopefully Ronon will leave you in one piece," she smiled back at him. "For what I have planned you'll need all your pieces intact."

/

It was supposed to be just a run-of-the-mill, normal, exploratory mission. The planet designated Z73-B64 was one the Atlantis teams had never explored before. And as it just so happened, Major Lorne's team was up in the rotation today. But there had been something nagging at her in the recesses of Layna's mind about this planet ever since she'd stepped foot on it.

When they'd first come through the gate, the four team members had stayed together, searching in the proximity of the gate. They had found no villages or settlements nearby. If there were people inhabiting this planet, it was likely that they would have settled near the gate as others in Pegasus had. But after finding nothing on their initial search they decided to split up to increase their odds.

Layna had found herself happening upon some ruins of some long lost civilization that had once lived here. As she walked along the broken remnants she felt that she had somehow been drawn to it. She felt as if she somehow knew this place, back long ago when it was still in its prime. She could picture the halls, the archways, every stone, every nook and cranny, as if she had once walked each and every one of them herself.

The stunning picture in her head conflicted drastically with what she saw as she passed, but somewhere within her she knew that the way she pictured it was the way that it had once been. She didn't know how exactly she knew, but she did.

She activated her com. "Major Lorne, come in."

"Go for Lorne," came his response.

"Yeah, I think I've found something."

"What's your position?"

She looked about her surroundings. "Just east of your last position, about half a click. Keep going until you see the ruins."

"I've seen ruins before, Layna. What's so special about these particular ones?"

""I'll have to tell you when you get here," she answered smiling.

"Yeah, okay. Roger that. I'm on my way."

While she waited for her team she looked around at the ruins before her. Even as they were, dilapidated and bare, she still found them beautiful. There were clear foundations of several dozen former structures, older than anything she had ever seen before. She was standing in the middle of a great city, possibly predating that of the Stargates. Maybe the Ancients themselves had once inhabited here, long before reaching Ascension.

"You're right, never seen ruins like these before," Major Lorne said smartly to her as he and the rest of the team approached her position.

"Haha," she retorted. "Of course to the _untrained_ eye, they're just like any other ordinary ruins."

"I'm sensing there's a but."

" _But_ if you look closely you'll notice that these ruins are quite old."

"Older than ruins?" he deadpanned.

She turned to stare at him. "Older than the Stargates," she stated.

The men stared back at her silently, momentarily taken aback.

"Does that mean what I think it means?" asked Lieutenant Jeffries.

Layna turned to the men. "I think the Ancients lived here, before they were the Ancients."

/

John slid his tray across the table in the mess hall and sat down gently in the seat across from Rodney, who had his eyes glued to a tablet while he shoved half an éclair into his mouth. "What happened to you?" he asked around the food as he noticed the pained expression on Sheppard's face.

"I was late for a workout session with Ronon this morning. I wasn't exactly prepared and he definitely made me pay for it. I think he bruised a rib or two."

Rodney looked to him, barely containing a grin. "Why were you late?"

"Because he and Layna had a long night," Ronon said as he plopped his tray down and sat next to John. "Didn't you buddy?" he said as he slapped his arm across the man's back and John winced in pain.

"She slept over again?" Rodney screeched. "Geez, you two have been together, what, like three months and are already practically living together. You know, you're making the two of us look bad."

"How's that?" John asked, taking a bite of his burger.

"You spend all your spare time with her."

"I like spending my time with her."

"Yeah but when I spend all day in the lab or Conan the Barbarian over here in the gym, we look like the bad guy next to you."

"I still don't see how that's my fault."

"You-" Rodney began but was cut off when John held up his hand, halting him as the hail came in over his com.

The other man tapped and activated his com. "Yeah Woolsey, this is Sheppard. What's going on?"

"Colonel, we just received a transmission from Major Lorne and his team. They seem to have discovered something quite interesting on Z73-B64. Your presence, as well as that of Dr. McKay would be appreciated in the control room."

"Copy that. We're on our way." He closed the transmission and looked to Rodney and Ronon. "Hold that thought for later Rodney. We gotta go."

/

"That's incredible," Rodney exclaimed over the open com as he and the rest of the occupants of the control room stared at the live-link of the ruins on the video monitor transmitting to them from the MALP on the planet with Lorne's team.

"Yeah, Layna estimates that it predates Atlantis by several centuries at least," Major Lorne said into the camera.

"This is completely incredible."

"Easy there, Rodney. Right now it's just an old pile of rocks," John said.

"Are you daft? This could be one of the greatest things we've learned about the Ancients. This could be their original planet, where they evolved into the great minds that built the Stargates."

"And let me guess, you'd like to study it?"

"Absolutely. I'd have to get my equipment first and…"

"Rodney, that wasn't an invitation," John said to the eager man, a bit happy with himself at crushing his friend's hopes and dreams for the day. He turned back to the screen and his off-world team. "You guys continue to look around. See what else you can find."

"But-" Rodney tried to interrupt.

"No, no Rodney. Lorne's team found it. They get to play with it." Rodney's enthusiasm deflated instantly. John turned away from Rodney, looking back to the monitor. "Lorne you guys have fun. Check back in four hours."

"Thank you Colonel. Roger that."

Major Lorne turned back to his team. "You guys heard him. Let's look around. Where's Layna," he asked when he realized she was no longer in sight.

"Where do you think? She's probably already catalogued half the ruins in her head by now," answered Ayala.

Major Lorne sighed in resignation and nodded to his men. "All right, let's go then," he said heading off back in the direction of the ruins. "Layna, you can't just take off like that," he said when they found her less than three minutes later.

"Look at this Lorne. Have you ever seen anything like this before?"

"Can't exactly say that I have, no." He looked around them, but for the life of him all he saw were old stones. He was a soldier. The crumbled remnants of old civilizations didn't interest him very much, even if that civilization had been the Ancients once upon a time ago.

"It's beautiful," she said in wonder.

Layna found this all beautiful and fascinating. He wouldn't waste paint and canvass trying to capture it. He turned to the rest of his men. "Fan out," he ordered. "See what you can find."

He watched Layna as she moved about the ruins. She was utterly captivated by it all. She moved carefully, one slow step at a time, trying not to disturbed what had been left in peace for so long. This was sacred ground for her now, the possible first home of the Ancients, the seeders of life. Like the rest of Atlantis, she held them in reverence.

She wanted answers about them just as much as anyone. More important to her than answers of who she was or where she'd come from was the solving of the riddle of who they were, what they had truly been. They were the minds who had built the gates and the very city in which she now called home. They had evolved so much that they had been able to transcend their human shells and live among the stars as energy for thousands of years. There would be no greater advancement for them as a people than to learn all the secrets of the Ancients. She felt in her bones that somewhere here among the ruins was the key to solving that puzzle they had all been looking for for some time. And somewhere in those secrets there might also be the key to defeating the Wraith.

She continued on, not knowing where she was going but that at the end of her journey she would find something of great importance. That was her only goal now. She knew that whatever she found was something that would help them in their fight with the Wraith. And they needed all the help that they could get if they were going to win the war.

She moved deeper through the ruins into some of the larger remaining half structures, Major Lorne following closely behind her. "Where exactly are you going?" he asked.

"I don't really know."

"Well you could have fooled me," he said as they came to a stop.

They were standing in front of another unremarkable pile of stones as far as Lorne could tell. Layna stared at them curiously for a moment before she moved in to run her hands along them as if she were looking for something.

"There's nothing there, Layna," Lorne warned her.

"I'm not so sure about that." As she felt along the stones she felt something give beneath her touch. A second later the largest of the stones began to move. Wider and wider it opened until there was a space large enough for one of them to pass through. Inside was pitch-black emptiness.

"Yeah, 'cause that's not creepy at all."

"Remind me again which one of us is the fearless soldier?" Layna said.

Lorne rolled his eyes at her as he reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a glow-stick. He cracked it, activating the green luminescence inside and tossed it through the threshold. It plunged down several feet, illuminating an old flight of stones steps as it did so, until it came to a rest at the bottom. "After you," Layna smiled.

"We should probably radio the others first," he suggested. "You know, in case the big dark hole in the ground doesn't lead to Nirvana."

Layna shrugged her shoulders. "Okay. You go ahead and do that, and I'll see you down there," she threw at him before she whipped out her flashlight and headed down the dark hole by herself.

He watched her stunned. "You've got to be kidding me," he mumbled to himself as he shook his head. Making an in-the-moment decision, he went against his better judgment and followed her down.

He arrived at the bottom to find himself standing at her side in the middle of a large cavern. On the walls of the cavern were markings scratched into every inch of its surface all around them. As he looked closely at them he recognized the symbols he saw as Ancient. "Well I'll be damned," he breathed.

"I'll hold the 'I told you so's' for later," she smirked as she left his side to move about the space, her head lifted to examine the walls above.

"How old would you say these writings are?" he asked her.

"My guess, about ten thousand years. Give or take a couple centuries."

"I thought you said this place was older than Atlantis."

"Yeah, I did. The structures definitely are older, but the writing is considerably more recent."

He flashed his light in her direction and noticed the odd look that had come over her face.

"What is it?"

She shook her head. "I don't know. There's just something off about this place," she observed.

"Aside from the obvious you mean?"

"The writing, it's not just random scribbling. There are dates, followed by events."

"Some kind of log, or journal?" he suggested.

"Maybe, but why write it on the wall of a hidden underground cave?"

"They ran out of paper?"

She turned and shown her light directly in his eyes, letting him know that his ideas were not exactly helping. "The writing seems to all be in the same hand," she said after turning back. "But some of the dates…. They range centuries, Evan. Several."

"Okay, so maybe some record of history then?"

"Maybe…" she answered, not at all convinced.

"They say anything interesting?" he asked a bit curious. Like many on Atlantis, he couldn't make heads or tails of the Ancient writing himself. The best he could do was recognize it for what it was.

Layna moved to the closest wall and reached out her hand to run it along the surface, tracing the letters there with the pad of her finger. "This one tells of a Great Alliance of power forming and protecting the worlds of the known universe," she explained, reading. She moved further along the wall. "This one tells of a plague ripping across the galaxy." She stopped as she neared the far corner and turned to Lorne, surprise in her eye.

"What?" he asked.

"This one says that a city of prosperity is abandoned and buried beneath the sea. And the one next to it says that the city rises again when the children of the ancestors return to claim it as their new home."

"You think that's us? That's not possible. Layna, it was written ten thousand years ago."

"I think we've learned that anything is possible when we're talking about the Ancients," she said to him. "Is it so hard to believe that with all the abilities they possessed that one of them might be able to glimpse into the future, and see what was to come?"

"A little, yeah," he admitted as he leaned against the opposite wall. A second later the wall gave way from the pressure of his body and fell out from under him.

"Are you all right?" Layna asked, coming to his side to help him back to his feet.

"Yeah, thanks," he said brushing the dust and rubble off of himself.

"Oh my God," Layna said.

"What?" Lorne said turning to see what had left Layna gaping in wonder.

The beam from her flashlight swept across the vast emptiness that seemed to be behind the crumbled wall and shown on another wall filled with writing. The two of them peered into the space, following the light as far as it would reach. The cavern seemed to be endless, and scratched across every visible surface were the same scribblings, written in the same hand.

If these were logs of past and future events seen through the gift of an Ancient as Layna believed, they now possibly had all the answers to the universe at their fingertips. Maybe there was a chance for them against the Wraith after all.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

The entire senior staff of Atlantis, minus Ronon who was on the Beta site with his men, was crowded into the gateroom staring expectantly at the Stargate at its center. The representatives of the Pegasus Coalition would be dialing-in at any minute. For the next few days the city had the privilege of hosting the members of the Council and their staff. It was something many of the people of Atlantis had mixed feelings about. It would be the first time many of the Coalition members would be setting foot on Atlantis. Many among them were wary of the city and its inhabitants. If one thing was certain about the next few days, it was that they would prove to be very interesting.

The gate began to dial-in and everyone in the gateroom perked up and began straightening their uniforms. The blue light of the gate swirled around the large ring until it locked in all seven coordinates of the dialed address. A second later the event horizon mushroomed out into the empty space between the staff and the gate before it finally settled.

"I'm receiving an IDC," came Chuck's voice over their open coms as he monitored from the control room up above. "It's Kelore's, sir."

Richard Woolsey nodded his acknowledgment and the gate shield was lowered. A few moments later Kelore of Latira, Dimas of the Free Peoples of Riva and Shiana of the Tribes of Santhal all stepped through the gate, their respective entourages trailing close behind them.

"Welcome to Atlantis," Mr. Woolsey said in greeting.

"Thank you for having us," responded Kelore as he took the hand that Mr. Woolsey offered him and shook it.

"Yes, I have to admit, I've been looking forward to getting a look at this place for quite some time," offered Dimas as he eyed the grand room appreciatively.

"Yes," chimed in Shiana. "It's as if you have been keeping it from us for some reason." Her tone was unmistakably hostile.

"We have been more cautious lately," Teyla said.

"Yeah, we tend to get that way after we've almost faced a public hanging," finished Rodney standing at John's side. It had been over a year since the incident, but he didn't let things go so easily.

"Dr. McKay," Woolsey said in warning, turning from his guests to eye the man.

Sheppard elbowed Rodney as he left the man's side and moved up to stand at Mr. Woolsey's side. "What Rodney means to say is that we are glad you could finally make the trip," he said trying his best to be a good diplomat.

"Yes," piped in Woolsey. "And we'd be more than glad to show you and your staff all that this city has to offer during your stay."

"That is most gracious of you," said Kelore as he exchanged a meaningful look with Shiana. She gave him a slight nod of concession before she turned back to the Atlantians with a cold glare.

"Please, this way," Woolsey said, gesturing towards the entrance to the gateroom. A couple of marines moved to their position ready to escort them. "We will show you and your party to your quarters so that you can all rest up from your travels. Once all the other Council members have arrived we can begin the first of the demonstrations."

"Thank you," said Dimas as he and the rest of the group began to head out of the gateroom.

John watched Teyla as she eyed Shiana curiously. The other woman was noticeably taking in every possible sight afforded to her in the gateroom as she exited. She looked around at all the guards that were posted through the room and their weapons. She noted the stairs and the control room they led to. She noted every piece of technology she could set her eyes on. Teyla could sense that something was not right with the woman who had just become a guest of the city.

"What is it Teyla?" John asked her, moving to her side and staring off at the backs of the exiting delegates.

"There is something very off about that woman," she answered, never taking her eyes off of Shiana as she left the gateroom with her party.

"She's always had a bug up her ass about us," John responded as Rodney also moved to their sides to join them in their staring.

Teyla shook her head and turned to her team. "No, it is not just that. She is up to something, John. I can sense it. She is not just here for the retrovirus demonstration. Every fiber of my being is telling me that we cannot and should not trust her."

John gave Teyla an appreciative look. He always trusted her instincts. They had never failed them in the past. If Teyla said something was up, then they needed to take action. But given their already delicate relationship with the Coalition, they were going to have to be careful with how they proceeded.

"Okay," he said nodding. "Why don't you keep an eye on her while she's here then. But just be cool about it. We don't want to give the Coalition any more cause for hating us if this thing goes wrong."

"When have I ever not been cool?" she deadpanned. Her expression slowly morphed into a soft smile. "Do not worry. I will be sure to exercise caution in my dealings with her," she assured him.

/

"Yeah, just set that right over there, please," Layna said to the two marines as they carried the Ancient device into her new lab.

After exploring the entirety of the underground cavern the expedition had discovered the defunct device abandoned in a dark corner, long forgotten. It was the oldest Ancient tech they had ever discovered and there was absolutely nothing they could do to make it work. They couldn't even figure out what it was or what it was supposed to do. But Layna liked it. She'd decided that it would be something nice to decorate her new lab with. With it she felt a deep connection to the Ancients.

The carved logs found underneath the ruins on planet Z73-B64 were going to need extended further study. Layna, the finder of said log and the authority on the Ancient language within the city, was the obvious choice to conduct the study.

With such an important discovery in her hands she was going to need lots of resources and time, which is why she was assigned her own small staff and a research assistant. Mr. Woolsey had even seen fit to authorize her a space in the city entirely her own, and after searching the city for days she had finally found the perfect place to set up her own private research lab.

"Thank you," she said once the device was settled in the spot she had chosen for it.

The marines made their way out and she was finally left to explore her new lab on her own. It was a big space, at least twice the size of the community lab she had previously occupied. And it was quiet, so very quiet. She had selected this place, a section of the city far from any populated area, for that very reason. She didn't want any distractions while she worked. And the city was filled with many things and people to distract her. But out here on the outskirts in a remote tower of Atlantis, no one would just happen by to interrupt her research.

She booted up her computer, turning on all the monitors lined up side by side on her workspace, and sat down at her terminal. She had spent days in the underground cavern scouring every inch of writing left on its walls, all along feeling that there was some hidden meaning behind the words. She knew that there was a message somewhere within them that was somehow meant for her.

She felt connected in some strange way to the writing. There was something very familiar about it. She hadn't felt a connection so strong to anything or anyone except John since awaking here in the city months ago. But these writings were different somehow. She'd even tested a wild theory earlier. She'd grabbed a pen and paper and written one of the log entries in her own hand and tested it against the writing on the wall. She didn't know what had drawn her to do it or why she thought the writing would somehow match, but she did it anyway. Though the writing wasn't an exact match to hers, the two samples held many similarities.

It was eerie this feeling that came over her when she was surrounded by these relics of the Ancients. When she was immersed in the study of their world and culture it was as if she was actually a part of it. She didn't know what it was, but everything she read, everything she learned about them, it was as if it were not for the first time.

The cavern and its writings were expansive. Though excavating the site and bringing it in its entirety to Atlantis would have been the ideal option, it was not the most feasible. The next best thing would be to build a base of operations around the cavern itself, which is what they had done. Layna and her research team spent many long days and nights there. But when she was here she had only pictures of the writing on the wall to work with.

The translations were slow-going. There were a lot of logs to sift through. But studying them gave her a unique insight into the mind of an Ancient, and that alone was worth the effort. But the information they contained, a complete account of historical and possible future events if they were right in their assumptions, was absolutely priceless. There were events listed that they would never have known about had they never explored planet Z73-B64.

There were millions and millions of years of Ancient history, and the histories of all the other races they had encountered out in the universe. It almost made the few hundred thousand years of Earth's history seem insignificant. The Ancients had done so much in their time. John and his people were really only just getting started.

The clock on the wall caught Layna's eye. She was already late. She found that it was so easy to lose herself in her work. She had wanted to be there when some members of the delegation arrived in the city. She'd missed the arrival of most of the members of the Council. But the Traveler ship was scheduled to arrive in just a short while. She had only ever seen a Wraith Hive and the Earth ship the Daedalus as far as her memories went. She was curious to get her eyes on it. Putting aside her research for now, she headed out of her lab and began making her way to the East pier.

/

John watched from the shade of the hangar as the Traveler ship touched down on the East pier with two marine escorts at his side. He had been expecting to receive Jarek as the representative of the Traveler Clan. The man had after all been their representative in all other previous Coalition Council meetings. But to John's surprise it was Larrin herself who stepped off of the ship. She grinned mischievously when she saw him waiting there and he knew this visit of hers was going to be trouble.

They'd met over two years ago after he'd been captured by she and her clan. The Travelers were a people living on generational ships in space to avoid the Wraith, only landing on planets intermittently to restock for supplies. For years they had been hearing rumors of the new power in Pegasus who were using the technology of the Ancestors. So they had set up spy satellites on many worlds which had ultimately led to John's capture.

Their goal was to use John's blood, which contained the Ancient gene, to help them create an interface which would allow them to use the advanced Lantean technology. They had somehow acquired a Lantean battleship, and once they had John they tried to use his innate ability to make it work. However, he was able to thwart their efforts. Later, after coming to a mutual want for survival, he had joined forces with Larrin to combat a Wraith soldier, after which the two of them had come to a certain understanding regarding his status as captive and the Travelers' need for aid with Lantean tech.

Over the years, whenever the two of them were in the same vicinity they would get together. And in those times they were known to have their share of fun. But the last time they'd seen each other was almost a year ago and they'd left their situation in a state of limbo, as always. And that was before Layna. No doubt, Larrin wanted to pick up right where they'd left off. He would have to impress upon her just how different things were now.

John moved from the shelter of the hangar to meet her midway down the pier, leaving the marines behind. As he did so he prepared himself for the fun that was about to happen. "Welcome back to Atlantis," he greeted her.

"Thanks," she smiled at him. "It's always a bit weird every time I set foot on land again."

"Technically, this is still a ship," he corrected her, tapping his foot on the concrete.

"Still… it takes a bit of adjustment."

He nodded his understanding. "Come on, the others are already here. I'll show you to your quarters before the demonstration."

"It's been a long trip. How about we just go straight to your place?" She said the last taking another step closer to him and reaching out her hand to caress his cheek.

"About that," he said grabbing her hand and pulling it away. "That's not really an option anymore. A lot has happened since the last time I saw you, Larrin. I've…. I've met someone," he admitted.

She took a step back and stared up at him, seeing only her own reflection staring back at her in his aviator sunglasses. Then her eyes were drawn to a point over his shoulder and she suddenly nodded her understanding.

"I'm guessing that's her."

John turned his attention behind him to the hangar and saw Layna standing there in its shade next to the marines. She was immobilized there, just staring at the two of them. A second later, with both sets of eyes on her, she began making her way down the pier to their sides.

"I thought you were holed up in your lab all day?" John asked her once she'd reached his side.

"I was curious about the ship," she answered, staring only at Larrin, the ship completely out of her mind for the moment.

"Layna, this is Commander Larrin, leader of the Traveler clan," he said making the necessary introductions. "Larrin, this is Layna."

"Nice to meet you," Layna said politely, holding out her hand.

"Yes, you too," Larrin said shaking the offered hand. "Sheppard was just telling me about you."

"Yes, he's told me about you as well. And your people. It's incredible that you all have managed to survive as you have, living from generation to generation in space. I find it all very fascinating. Which is why I was so curious to see one of your ships for myself. "

"Why don't you two go take a look around the ship?" Larrin suggested. "My men will have no problem showing you around." Larrin looked down the pier to the waiting marines. She turned back to the couple with a wicked smile plastered on her face. "And I'm sure your two soldiers can keep me occupied until the demonstration."

"Are you sure?" Layna asked. "I wouldn't want to impose."

"Not a problem," Larrin answered heading off. "Tell Moxen you're my guests and he will see to all of your needs."

"So that's Larrin," Layna commented as she and John watched the woman walk away from them down the pier towards the two waiting marine escorts. "She's pretty."

"Yeah, she is," John agreed, deciding to let Layna sweat for just a bit. "It's too bad I'm in love with you, huh?" he said turning to her, a smile in his voice.

Layna smiled up at him. "Lucky for you I'm not the jealous type." Larrin reached the hangar and the two watched as she instantly began to flirt shamelessly with both marines. "Wow, I think she's taking the news very well," Layna commented.

"Yes," John nodded. "One of the things you'll learn about Larrin is that she is nothing if not resilient."

"Oh well, it's her loss, and definitely my gain. Let's go," she said turning back to him excitedly. "I'm dying to get my eyes on that ship," she said jogging down the pier towards the Traveler ship. John followed after her, smiling.

/

Ronon was more than happy to be on the Beta site with his men. If he wasn't here then he would be on Atlantis forced to make nice with the delegation from the Pegasus Coalition. As a member of Atlantis Team One and a senior staff member of the expedition he was required to perform certain diplomatic duties. Needless to say, those duties were not his favorite part of the job.

What made this stint on the Beta site even more enjoyable was that Amelia was here with him this time. She had been given three weeks' leave from the expedition and had decided to spend the first of those weeks with him. In a couple of days she would be headed back to Earth for the remaining two weeks to visit with her family, but for now he had her all to himself and they were enjoying every minute of it. When she wasn't helping him show his men hand to hand combat techniques the two of them were exploring the wonders of the Beta site and sparring and training on their own.

When he was with Amelia, he felt like his old self again, like the man he had been on Sateda. Over the years he'd learned to accept that he would never see his home again, never have the life that he'd once had there. But he had been able to build a new life on Atlantis with John and his people. And Amelia was becoming a big part of that life. Since losing Melania in the Wraith attack on Sateda he hadn't thought he'd be able to get back to this place. But, despite everything, here he was.

They were sparring, far outside of the training grounds, when Amy dropped her hands mid-bout. "Ronon," Amy said staring off into the distance past his shoulder.

He drew his eyes to where she stared and saw the figures approaching their position. There were several of them, at least two dozen, all dressed in clothing from different worlds scattered across Pegasus. And at the head of the group there were four hooded figures.

Ronon moved to collect his pistol from the ground where he'd left it. His men were all at the camp site, along with the marine guards that Sheppard had left behind to keep the place secure. Amelia had no weapons, only her fighting skills to defend against them if this was to be an attack. They were out-numbered, with no way to call for reinforcements.

"You can hold it right there," Ronon said, once the group had gotten close enough for his liking. He had his pistol trained on one of the hooded figures, keeping Amelia protectively behind him. The group stopped their approach with his warning. Slowly the four in the lead removed their hoods.

"I don't believe it," Ronon breathed, lowering his weapon.

"What is it?" Amelia asked him.

Staring at Ronon were the faces of people he'd thought long ago lost. Delkys, Remy, Synthe, and Rickon, all friends of his from another time, another life. They were members of the army of Sateda. They were soldiers who had fought by his side for years and years. He looked beyond them to some of the faces in the crowd and recognized some of them as well. They were all Satedan.

"They're Satedan," he answered her.

"You didn't think you were the only one, did you?" smiled Remy at him from across the field as he stood beside the others.

"After six years of silence, I was leaning that way, yeah. Where the hell have you all been all this time?"

"That last attack, there was nothing left," answered Synthe as she took a step closer to him. "Those of us who were off-world, or who managed to escape the Wraith, we all had no choice but to scatter."

Delkys stepped up. "But when we heard what you were doing here, we knew we couldn't stay in hiding any longer. Some of us got together," he said indicating the four of them in the lead of the group. "We've spent the last few months travelling across the galaxy finding our soldiers." He gestured behind him. "This is what remains of Sateda and its army."

Ronon stared at the field of soldiers in front of him. He counted the heads. There were twenty eight of them. After years of believing that he was the only one left it was a lot to absorb. He wasn't the last one. These were Satedan soldiers, through and through. Here he was trying to rebuild his lost army, and they hadn't been completely lost at all. There were enough of them left to rebuild what had been lost to them. There were enough of them to start anew. They could rebuild Sateda, just as Teyla and her people had rebuilt New Athos out of the ashes.

"It's more than I could have wished for," Ronon breathed. "What are you all doing here?"

"We heard the Satedan army was rising from the dead," answered Remy.

"So we came to fight," said Rickon. "You can't have a Satedan army without a few Satedans."

/

/

"Charlie and his fellow officers responded well to the treatment," Dr. Keller said to Rodney as they were preparing for the upcoming demonstration.

"Charlie?" Rodney asked. "Who gave him that name?"

"The Colonel," she answered nodding across the bay at Sheppard who was escorting the unconscious Wraith drone that would be undergoing the procedure today.

"What?" Rodney said looking in the man's direction and grabbing his attention. "I thought we agreed I got to name the next one, Sheppard. You name them all."

"You know what Rodney," John said walking up to the two of them, pushing the gurney carrying the drone. "You're absolutely right. Why don't you name this big guy right here, then?" he offered.

"All right," Rodney exclaimed, eagerly slapping his hands together and staring down at the unconscious Wraith drone on the medical gurney. "Let's see," he said pondering. "He kind of looks like an Igor. What do you think?"

Everyone in the room stared awkwardly at one another. Finally John broke the silence. "That's why we don't let you name anything Meredith," he said using Rodney's horrible given name to make his point.

"Hey, that one's completely on my parents," Rodney argued.

"Either way, that was your first and final shot, buddy." John looked across the med-bed to Jennifer. "If you two ever decide to have kids, whatever you do, do not let him name them."

"Roger that, Colonel," she said smiling amusedly as she gave him a mock salute.

"Hey, whose side are you on?" Rodney cried. "Wait, what was that about kids?" Jennifer rolled her eyes at him as she stepped away from the two of them. Rodney leaned over the body of the unconscious Wraith and lowered his voice to a whisper. "You don't think she's gonna want kids, do you?" he asked, concern evident in his voice.

"Rodney, the idea of a little version of you running around the city horrifies me just as much as it does you. Maybe even more so. Besides, Jen knows just how terrible you are with kids."

"So you think I'm safe then?"

"No, I actually think you're kinda screwed there, pal. Which means when the little bugger comes along, so are the rest of us."

"You know Sheppard, you really know how to make a guy feel better."

"Feel better about what?" Jen asked making her way back over to them carrying a syringe filled with another dose of the serum.

"Oh nothing," Rodney deflected, his best nerd smile in place.

"How's Gor doing in the study?" John asked nodding down at the Wraith drone.

"I named him Igor," Rodney corrected.

"I know, and I fixed it for you. You're welcome."

Rodney threw up his hands in surrender. "Unbelievable."

/

"Since we arrived in this galaxy we've been trying to find a way to deal with the Wraith," began Mr. Woolsey to the delegation. They were in the observation room above the main operating suite of the medical bay. Down below Drs. Keller and Beckett and their medical team were preparing for the upcoming procedure.

"Our first instance with this was, as you know, the Hoffan drug. With the possibility of preventing the Wraith from feeding on an individual injected with the drug, you could see why we decided to devote many of our resources and efforts into its development. Unfortunately, the drug had several unforeseen side effects, of which I'm sure you're all familiar with. So we abandoned that line of research."

"And then we encountered the anti-Wraith serum. By extracting all of the Iratus bug DNA from the subject and leaving only the human DNA behind, we saw this as an incredible breakthrough. Our first test subject, Michael, showed great promise. After administering the serum over an extended period we were able to fully transform Michael into a human. But in order to keep him in that state he required indefinite daily injections. With several thousand Wraith out there, you can see why this was not feasible to maintain long-term."

"Which leads us to today's demonstration. Our latest trials are focusing on not changing the complete physiology of the Wraith but only one key element, the need for them to feed or rather the ability."

"You believe you can create a drug powerful enough to do that?" asked Kelore.

"We've already done it with a moderate amount of success in the past. We administered a former strain of the drug on the Wraith Commander known as Todd. It proved to eliminate his ability to feed on the life force of humans. But the same strain also proved ineffective on the Wraith drones as well as the queens. Today we will be testing a new strain to see its current effectiveness on the drones."

"Am I to understand you have Wraith here in the city? As in more than one?" asked Shiana.

"Yes, but I can assure you, you are all perfectly safe. The drones undergoing the test today are under heavy anesthesia and we have several guards with them. And the remaining Wraith soldiers are in holding with a high-yield energy field surrounding it."

"Uh, Mr. Woolsey," Carson said from down below, calling for the man's attention.

Woolsey turned from his audience and looked down into the operating suite. "Yes, Dr. Beckett?"

"We're all set down here. Ready to begin whenever you are."

Woolsey nodded his acknowledgment. "Let's proceed then Doctor."

"Aye," Beckett said turning to his staff. "You heard the man. Let's get this show on the road, shall we?"

He nodded to his assistant who then moved to the other side of the gurney set up in their surgical suite. After an exchange of apprehensive glances back and forth, the assistant removed the privacy sheet over the gurney to reveal a bound and unconscious Wraith drone. The gasps from the delegation in the observation room echoed through the suite down below through the open com channel. Carson turned to stare up at Atlantis' visitors.

"Over the course of the last few weeks we have been injecting the drones with different concentrated dosages of our Serum 326 to test its effectiveness. As of yet we have not been able to pinpoint the correct dosage needed to maintain the change in their molecular structure long-term, but we are making progress with every trial."

Dr. Keller stepped up beside him. "Today's session is one of many more that will most likely be needed until we are able to reach our ultimate goal of permanently eliminating the Wraith's need to feed, but we are confident that it will serve as an effective demonstration for you all on its future capabilities and applications."

Turning from their captive audience the two doctors took positions on either side of their test subject. The armed guards posted at the entrance moved in closer, ready for any possible outcome. Dr. Keller reached over to the tool tray and grabbed the syringe filled with the serum. With the slightest bit of hesitation she injected it into the IV line running into the Wraith's veins.

The reaction was almost instantaneous, and violent. The unconscious drone shook viciously on the gurney. Even through the restraints his movements made everyone in the room jump back in a nervous fear. Over the weeks of experimenting with the drug trial they had all been exposed to this type of reaction from the injected subjects, but even so it was something one could not get used to.

No matter the nature of their subject, it was an unsettling sight to take in. The rapid change going on within the Wraith's body was no doubt excruciating. It was a pain they wouldn't subject their worst enemy to, which was why they mercifully left the drones unconscious during the trials.

After several minutes of thrashing around on the medical gurney the drone began to settle. Everyone in the room began to breathe a little easier now that the ordeal was over. Slowly, Jennifer reached out to remove the bindings from the Wraith's right hand. As she did so the armed guard nearest to her aimed his weapon at the still unconscious drone as a precaution. She lifted his hand and displayed it for those viewing in the observation room up above. An audible gasp was heard from all when they saw it.

"As you can see," Jennifer began, stepping away from the Wraith and addressing the delegation once again. "The drug has effectively eliminated the means by which the subject can feed."

Carson looked up towards the observation room as well. "At this point we do not know how long the change will last with the concentration of this particular dosage. With the previous dosage the change lasted several days before the subject reverted back to his original state. So as you can see we are making progress and soon should be able to affect the change on a more permanent basis."

"Thank you Doctors," said Mr. Woolsey at the conclusion of the drug demonstration before he turned back to face the city's guests.

"Impressive," said Dimas.

"Yes, your progress far exceeds that of anything that has ever been attempted before," voiced Kelore.

"Your medical and technological advances are undoubtedly superior. As are your weapons," said Shiana. "Which is why I do not understand why you are wasting your efforts on trying to change the nature of the beasts instead of just eliminating them all together?"

"We are not in the habit of practicing genocide. And history has taught us that it is best to try every available option to avoid an all-out war with one's enemies."

"Your wish is to try and make peace with them if this treatment of yours is somehow successful?" she questioned.

"That would be one desirable outcome, yes," Mr. Woolsey confirmed.

"Desirable to whom?" she asked.

At her words the room was thrown into another awkward silence. Woolsey was starting to get used to it. It seemed that was the way Shiana liked it, since she always seemed to steer her conversations with them there.

"Shiana, a peaceful resolution is beneficial to all," Kelore argued. "How many more worlds will be lost should this war with the Wraith continue as it has?"

She seemed to consider his words because after a slight hesitation she nodded her head and turned back to Mr. Woolsey. "Forgive me," she begged with a slight bow in the man's direction. "It is hard to remember all that has been lost at the hands of the Wraith without feeling a certain lust for blood. But Kelore is right. Enough blood has been spilled. This drug of yours may be the answer we have been desperately searching for."

Mr. Woolsey nodded his head in understanding. As he did so, he allowed himself the small hope that this was the turning of a new leaf in Shiana's relationship with Atlantis and its inhabitants. She blamed them for the loss of her husband and son in a Wraith attack on her homeworld. She blamed them for every attack in Pegasus since they had unintentionally awakened the Wraith several decades early from their slumber. Maybe this would be a step towards atonement for that act.

"As for the other Wraith you have here in the city. I was wondering if it would be possible to see them?" Shiana asked.

"That can be easily arranged, but may I ask why you want to see them?"

"Is it unheard of on your planet to want to look into the face of the evil that has plagued you as a means of possibly overcoming it?"

"No, but-"

"If we are to make peace with the Wraith must we not first learn to not fear the very sight of them? I'm willing to take my first step towards that end if you will allow me."

Mr. Woolsey exchanged looks with first the members of the visiting delegation and then the marines posted throughout the room. Shiana made a good argument. He didn't see the harm in granting her this request. Everyone should have the chance of facing down their greatest fear. And that's exactly what the Wraith were for the people of the Pegasus galaxy.

"I will have Colonel Sheppard set it up," he assured her.

/

/

The main mess hall of the city was crowded more than usual today. Atlantis had many guests, and most were in the mood for a party. There were several members of the expedition, the delegation and visitors from New Athos who were scattered about the large room, even Ronon had gated in for the day. They all had many reasons to celebrate. The Coalition visit was going well, the new Wraith serum was showing great promise and little Torren John Emmagan was turning two years old. The mess hall of the great city of Atlantis, full of various foods and decorations, made an accommodation for all who entered, no matter the reason.

"Come here buddy," John said to Torren, kneeling down to the small boy's level as he stood at his parents' side. "Look what I got for you," he said extending the birthday boy his perfectly wrapped gift.

Torren squealed with delight when he saw what was inside the wrapping. It was a remote control car just like the ones he'd spent hours watching John and Rodney race on the pier and through the halls of the city.

"They look like they're having fun," Layna said to Teyla she walked over to the group, handing the other woman a drink.

Teyla smiled as she watched Torren climb onto her friend's lap as the man began showing the boy how to use the controls on his new toy. "They always do," she responded.

"John tells me you've had the pleasure of keeping an eye on a certain hostile member of the delegation," Layna began as they took a step away to be on their own.

"Pleasure would be the wrong word for the experience," Teyla argued rolling her eyes.

Layna smiled as she turned to look around the large room. After a few beats, she noticed that the woman of topic, Shiana of the Tribes of Santhal, was nowhere to be found. And neither were any of her private entourage. As she looked around she recognized the faces of every member of the Coalition delegation. But Shiana and her men were noticeably absent from the celebrations.

"Speaking of our most honored guest, where has she gotten off to?" Layna asked.

Teyla turned curiously to follow Layna's line of sight. "I don't know," she said as she looked around. "She was just here a little while ago."

Layna shrugged her shoulders. "I guess this was all just too much fun for her."

"Yes, I'm sure you're right," Teyla agreed. But she had an odd feeling in the pit of her stomach as she turned back to watch her son and her best friend enjoying the new toy car that she just couldn't get rid of.

/

Shiana and her men stepped off of the transporter and began making their way to the holding cells of Atlantis. It had taken them a day or so to figure out a way to circumvent all the security measures the people of the city had set in place for their visit. She and her entourage had spent their time on Atlantis studying the layout of the city as well as the comings and goings of all its inhabitants. They'd watched the guards trade shifts. They'd made sure to be on their best behaviors when that Teyla woman shadowed their every move on the pretext of friendliness and being a good host. They did all this while waiting patiently for their chance. And today all their efforts would finally pay out.

They had taken advantage of the celebrations to slip out of the mess hall unnoticed. It was the perfect opportunity. These humans of Earth, they wanted for nothing. It was evidenced by the elaborate festivities held for just a small child's birthday. Nowhere else in the Pegasus galaxy was there a civilization with the capabilities of these people. And what did they do with all they had? Did they use it all to fight the dangerous enemy that they themselves had awakened? No. They spent their time and efforts on useless chemistry projects and children's parties.

After leaving the mess hall and the festivities behind they'd made their way unhindered back to their quarters and collected the weapons they'd brought with them through the Stargate. They'd spent weeks scouring the galaxy for the sophisticated weaponry. Still they would be no match against that of Atlantis and its numbers, but for what Shiana had planned that wouldn't be necessary.

The entourage rounded the corner leading to the holding cells the Atlantians had been gracious enough to show them just days ago. The two marines guarding the doors were not the same as the ones who had been there before but they were just as armed as their counterparts had been. Their approach was noticed by the men immediately. The guard closest to them raised his hand the stop their progress as he moved to block their way down the rest of the corridor.

"This is a restricted area," he said. "You guys have to clear out."

Shiana gave her most disarming smile. "Apologies. We were just trying to make our way to the festivities and must have gotten turned around. This city of yours is quite vast and difficult to navigate."

He nodded as he peered over their shoulders down the empty corridor. "Where's your escort?" he asked.

"If we had an escort, do you think we'd be walking around your city in circles?" asked one of her men.

"If you could just point us back in the right direction," Shiana ventured, drawing the marines' attention back to her, "we can all just get out of your hair."

The two marines exchanged glances with one another.

"We should call it in," said the guard still standing at the door.

His friend nodded agreement. "I'll radio it in. Who's your escort?" he turned back to ask them. A nanosecond later the stunner beam hit him in the chest dead center and he crumpled to the ground unconscious. The guard at the door barely had time to aim his weapon before a second beam took him out as well.

Shiana turned to look at her men. The weapons they'd spent weeks searching and trading for were clutched in their hands. They had been well worth the time and effort. Stepping over the bodies of the downed marines, Shiana and her men made their way past the doors and into the cell room where the Wraith prisoners were being kept.

There were only two of them in the cell, kept at bay by the high energy force-field pulsing between the horizontal naquadah-enforced bars. The others were still in the medical labs undergoing the experimental drug trials. But these two that had been left behind would be sufficient for what Shiana had in mind. They were officers, the both of them. But it was the one the Atlantians had named Charlie that caught her attention.

He kept his eyes glued to hers as he inched his way as close to the bars of the cell as he could get without getting zapped by the force-field. He smiled at her- if you could call it a smile- the glimmer of recognition in his eye. "Ah, another visit." He cocked his head to the side and gave a slight grin as he noticed who was absent from the room. "And this one unsupervised. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Shiana scowled through the cell bars at him. She took no pleasure in what she was about to do. This was her sworn enemy, now and forever. But he was also her best shot at accomplishing what she'd come to this city to do. He was a means to an end, and it was the only end she would settle for.

"My men and I have secured the room. For the time being we won't be interrupted. But I do not know exactly how long we might have. And in all honesty, I can't be in the same room with a race that repulses me as yours does but for so long."

"I see now what the spectacle of the other day was all about," he said. "A disarming tactic for your allies here. It worked, and now your true purpose is revealed. You have come to exact revenge for some wrong you feel Wraith have done you." He didn't seem too concerned, considering the fact that he thought she was there to kill him.

"I would like nothing better," she answered truthfully, staring him down with every ounce of contempt she possessed. But then she looked away before she said her next words. "But perhaps another time. I have other agendas at the moment."

"Really," he began, clearly amused. "Well then, do tell me what it is that you think I can do for you?"

"It's not what you can do for me, but what I can do for you," Shiana answered.

"And what is that?"

"I can get you out of this cage."

She caught him a bit off-guard with that one. "Why would you do that?" asked Charlie. "Given your feelings toward Wraith, I would find it very hard to believe that you have any interest in helping us."

"I'm not helping you. I'm helping myself. I have unfinished business with your captors."


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Torren crashed his new car into Rodney's foot just as the alarms of the city began blaring through the room, drowning out the sounds of the music that had previously filled the air. The celebrants in the grand room all looked around exchanging confused or alarmed looks. This was clearly not a part of the planned festivities.

John activated his com. "Sheppard to control. What the hell's going on?" he asked over the open channel as Ronon and Mr. Woolsey made their way through the crowd and to his side.

"It's the Wraith, sir," answered Chuck. "Two of them have escaped the cells."

"How the hell did that happen?" John asked.

"I don't know, sir. But the two marines standing guard were just found drained to within an inch of their lives," Chuck informed.

That was the worst news he could think of hearing, now or ever. There were Wraith loose in his city. Almost every person he loved or cared about were now in danger. Atlantis was supposed to be the safest place in Pegasus, the only place untouched by Wraith. Now, with the eyes of the Coalition on them, it was the worst possible time for a situation like this to ever happen.

"Lock down the city," Mr. Woolsey ordered. "Aside from essential personnel no one moves."

"Understood, sir," answered Chuck.

"Contact Major Lorne," began Colonel Sheppard. "I want his team and four others assembled to meet me in the gear room in three minutes. We're going to have to search the entire city section by section. There's no telling what kind of damage Charlie and his buddy can do. And shut off that damn alarm," he said closing out the channel.

He looked about the large room, at all the many faces that filled it. So many of the city's inhabitants were gathered here. It was actually a good thing given their current situation. It meant there were less people free to roam the halls of the city and become the next Wraith victim. If they all stayed here and resumed the celebrations as if nothing had happened, maybe he and his people could get everything under control without complete and utter panic. And maybe they would be able to keep this debacle from the attention of the visiting delegation as well.

The alarms ceased and the music started up again throughout the room. "What is it?" Layna asked as she and Teyla came to his side.

"The city is now on lockdown. We need to keep these people here, and we need to keep them calm. We have a bit of a Wraith problem," John said, answering.

"What do you mean, a bit of a problem?" Rodney asked over Sheppard's shoulder. He seemed to always be within earshot.

"I don't know how they managed it, but a couple of them got out of their cage. We gotta go. Hopefully we can catch them before anyone here is the wiser." He turned to Mr. Woolsey. "Do you think you can keep the delegation busy here?" he asked.

"As I don't see that I have much of a choice in the matter, I'll give it my best shot," Woolsey answered eyeing the delegation members uneasily.

"Good luck," John said patting the other man's shoulder as he and his team headed out of the door of the mess hall.

/

He marched through the lower level of the city with purpose, not in the shadows like an intruder but out in the open as if he owned the very halls he walked himself. He was a Wraith Commander. He was the shadow. He did not fear the humans. But he made sure they feared him. And they would fear him even more now that he was free.

For weeks they had kept him caged, locked away like some animal. And they had let him starve the entire time as well. When he had been released by the human woman and her men, he and his Lieutenant had wasted no time in feeding off of the life-force of the men guarding their captivity, but even still, he was hungry. The hunger was a part of him. It was who he was, what he was. The humans' experimental drug had taken it away from him for a time, but it had returned in a matter of days. Even so, those days had been excruciating for him. What they had done to him had made him weak, made him less of a Wraith.

During the time of his change every day the humans would bring in trays of their awful food for him to consume. The very thought of the act repulsed him. The way the humans sustained themselves was disgusting, not to mention unfulfilling compared to a true feeding. He'd held out for as long as he could but the longer he did the weaker his body grew. Finally, purely running on survival instinct, he'd succumb to his hunger and eaten their putrid food. It had been a humiliating experience. The especially humiliating part was what had come after.

He hated this city. And now, as a direct result of his captivity and the ordeal he'd suffered at their hands, he loathed the humans who called this place home. For Wraith, humans existed purely for sustenance. They were lower life forms to be toyed with for entertainment. And that was how he'd lived, how he'd always considered the humans. He never cared enough to think about them in any other way. But all that had changed now. He saw them in a whole new light. And he wanted them to suffer as they had made him suffer. But first he had to find a way out of this city.

He found it difficult to move around with the city now on lockdown, but not impossible. He and his Lieutenant had split up just after they'd fed. The deal for being released from their cell was to create chaos, to terrorize the city and its inhabitants. It wasn't much of a stretch. It was what they'd spent millennia doing with the villages of Pegasus. No doubt his accomplice had already found another in the city to provide him a feeding. He himself wanted nothing more than to finally fill that emptiness that had encompassed him during his time here, but that would have to wait. He had other priorities.

Despite most of the doors in his way being sealed, he managed to find the bay where they kept their short distance flight shuttles. Unfortunately, just like almost everything else in this damned city, the technology only responded to the Ancients and their descendants. There was no way he was going to be able to use it to pilot himself off of this rock and to the safety of one of his hive ships.

His first idea of escape out the window, he moved quickly on to another plan. Even though he could not fly his way out of here he might be able to send out the proverbial smoke signal. All he had to do was find a way to access their communications systems. Certainly not all of their technology required the ancient gene to work. The humans had brought far less sophisticated machinery with them when they'd traveled here. He was sure it wouldn't be hard for him to use the archaic tech. The difficulty would be in trying to get it to perform the complex task he needed it to fulfill.

Leaving the jumper bay, he began navigating his way to the nearest control terminal. "Stop right there!" he heard and turned to see two human soldiers pointing their inferior weapons at him. He could tell by the way they clutched at their guns, the nervous look in their eyes, and the sweat beading at their temples that they were scared, of him. "Don't take another step closer!" ordered the younger one in a voice just on the brink of panic.

Ignoring the warning he took a tentative step toward them, testing the waters. Instead of standing their ground, the armed humans each took a protective step back from him. That was their mistake and the action made him grin uncontrollably. And then he charged at them.

His speed proved far superior to their weapons and he managed to close the distance between them before they even had time to think. Even still he took a few rounds in the chest from their guns. They stung a bit, but were not nearly enough to take him down. He kneeled at the side of the nearest downed guard and latched his hand onto his chest and began to feed. As the life drained from the human, the wounds he had sustained from their weapons began to heal. But it wasn't until after he drained the second human that he began to feel like his old self again. He'd almost forgotten how good it felt.

/

Major Lorne and his team rounded a corner on the fourth level of one of the vacant buildings on the outer reaches of the north-east pier. Lorne was in the lead with Jefferies and Ayala following. Layna was guarding their rear, a stunner rifle grasped tightly in her hands. This was quite a different experience from her first Wraith hunt. Then, they had been on the offensive, out to capture with a plan and trap set in place. But now they were playing defense, and all they had going for them was that they were on familiar territory.

With the entire city on lockdown there were not many places the loose Wraith could be. Those in the city who had not attended the party were trapped in their quarters or in their labs. There would be no way for anyone to get in or out of those areas without the security override code or until the lockdown was lifted. And that wasn't going to happen until both escaped Wraith were caught.

The only people moving about the city freely were the two fugitive Wraith and the five security teams sent out to find them. Colonel Sheppard had dispatched the teams to patrol the unsecured, vacant areas of the city. If they were going to find the Wraith, the likelihood would be that one or both of them would be there, in the only place they could move about freely and maybe find some means of escape.

As the team came to a juncture their radios crackled, breaking the stiff silence in the air. "All teams, this is Sheppard." Major Lorne stopped his team's advancement down the corridor at the sound of the Colonel's voice. "We're in corridor C-12 near the jumper bay where we've just found Stavos and Wilkers, or rather we found what's left of them. One of the Wraith got to them first. Most likely Charlie and his friend are fully charged now. Stay alert and be careful. I'm not losing any more men. Sheppard out," he said ending the communication there.

Lorne looked back to his team. "You heard the man," he said, adjusting the grip on his P90 and starting back down the hall. "Keep your eyes open."

"Aye, sir," responded Sergeant Ayala.

They continued on, clearing every empty room, storage closet, lab and living quarters along their way. There were no visible signs of the Wraith anywhere. As the team exited that section of the city Layna activated her com. "Team two to control. This section is secure. You're clear to commence lockdown."

"Copy that Layna," came Radik Zalenka's voice in her earpiece. "We're shutting it all down now." The doors in the corridor leading back the way they had come began to seal shut at their backs. Behind the doors they could hear the sounds of everything behind them closing and shutting down. All the lights, the power, even the life support systems. As each team moved the cleared sections they left behind were all being locked down completely after them. Their only shot of finding the Wraith would be boxing them in, leaving them nowhere to go.

"We're continuing on to our secondary search location now, Zalenka," informed Major Lorne.

"Noted. Keep us informed of your progress."

"Roger, Lorne out."

Layna followed Lorne and the rest of her team, two things on her mind, the Wraith and John. She could hear it in his voice as he spoke over the coms. He was upset. He did not like losing people, especially those under his command. He was responsible for them. And every loss their forces here in Atlantis took was a great personal blow to John Sheppard.

"Did you hear that?" asked Jefferies, tearing Layna away from her thoughts.

"Hear what?" Ayala asked.

"Wait," Jefferies answered, stopping. "Just listen for a sec."

His teammates stopped their advancement down the hall to listen alongside Lieutenant Jefferies. After a few silent beats of holding their breath and absolute stillness, they did hear something. It was the sound of faint footsteps off in the distance. There was someone else in that section of the city with them.

"Where's it coming from?" whispered Layna.

Major Lorne signaled his team to move on, splitting them into two teams of two. He and Jefferies continued ahead as Ayala and Layna circled around to the opposite side. They moved cautiously through the hall, drawing themselves closer and closer to the sounds of the falling footsteps. As they neared the sounds grew louder, until they were more than just footsteps. Something was moving around, and that something was big and definitely didn't belong there.

They came to another juncture where they met back up with Layna and Ayala as they were coming from the east corridor. The sounds were coming from an old closed-off lab area. It was one of the areas marked for future expansion of the expedition through the city but as yet unused by the fairly new inhabitants. But it seemed the Wraith inside was making himself more than comfortable.

He heard them before they made it to the entrance and in a split second he was on them. Major Lorne was in the lead and as such he was the first to engage. But the Wraith's speed and strength proved superior and the Major was thrown clear across the hall by the larger beast. Layna dove to the floor as she fired her stunner at the approaching Wraith.

She hit him in the arm but it wasn't nearly enough to bring him down. Jefferies and Ayala each fired their P90s after him as he ran west down the hall.

Layna picked herself up off of the floor and ran to Lorne's side. She found him in the middle of a splintered wall, ruble all over him. "Are you all right?" she asked him.

"Dandy," he said, coughing up dust and debris and wincing in pain. "He left a few ribs intact," he said as Layna helped him off the floor and to his feet.

"Good, that means this one's not at full strength," she said, offering good news. "Otherwise you would have stayed down."

"Always looking on the bright side Layna," he said, rolling his eyes at her.

"John's been teaching me how to be an optimist," she answered smartly.

Jefferies and Ayala ran past them chasing after the Wraith. "We hit him with a few of our rounds," Jefferies offered on the way. Lorne and Layna were right behind them. They followed the tar-like blood droplets left behind by the fleeing, wounded Wraith Lieutenant. His tracks went on for quite some time until they ended abruptly at a solid wall, clearly a dead end. The four team members crowded around the blood, staring down at them, the confusion growing with every silent beat.

"Everybody's coming to the same conclusion as me, right?" voiced Ayala.

"Not if your conclusion is magic, Ayala," answered the Major.

Layna kneeled to a crouch over the blood drops and studied their directionality. As she solved the mystery a wet, slimy substance landed on her left cheek. Without giving away her advantage Layna quickly reached for her scanner and fired directly above her head to where the Wraith had hidden, waiting to pounce on the group once more. The action took him off-guard but again the stunner was not enough to stop him. He made a hostile move toward Ayala and Jefferies once he'd regained his footing on solid ground and the two men didn't hesitate to open fire. They only stopped after the Wraith fell lifeless to the ground.

Major Lorne stared at the two men incredulously. "Was that necessary?" he asked.

"You want to ask that question again to your broken ribs?" Ayala answered smartly.

Lorne decided to give him that one as he turned away from them and activated his com. "Lorne to Colonel Sheppard."

He answered the line quickly. "This is Sheppard."

"We've found one of the Wraith, sir. Not Charlie, but the other one, the Lieutenant. He's dead, sir."

"How the hell did that happen Lorne?"

"He attacked us, sir," he said hedging a bit, before adding the next. "Twice."

There was a slight pause on the other end of the transmission. "Copy that, Major. Secure the remains and bring them to Doctor Keller in the medical bay. Have your team finish clearing and securing your current position."

"Aye, sir."

"And Lorne," Sheppard added.

"Yes Colonel?"

"Good job."

"Thank you, sir."

/

"Do you perform these security drills of yours often?" asked Kelore of Mr. Woolsey. And with the question the eyes of the entire delegation were looking on him expectantly.

After the alarms had been shut off the people had looked to Richard Woolsey for an explanation. He'd quickly explained that the city was running a temporary security drill requiring everyone to stay put and promised that it would all be over soon. He'd made sure to put on his most diplomatic and assuring face as he'd marched purposefully through the grand room and restarted the festivities. He was not going to let something as simple as his facial expressions give away the severity of their situation and set everyone into a panic.

Most of the people hadn't given the alarms another thought after that. They'd resumed their celebrations right where they'd left off. But there were a few in the room who were curious, maybe even a little suspicious. He had to do everything in his power to assuage their doubts. Luckily for him, thanks mostly to his time in the IOA, he was a skilled storyteller with great tact.

Mr. Woolsey smiled across the distance, hoping to be as reassuring and convincing as he needed to be to pull this deception off. "Several times a month, at least," he confirmed. "However, every drill is different. But I can assure you we have everything under control. There is absolutely nothing to worry about."

"Who's worried?" said Dimas, smiling grandly. "With all of these delectable treasures right here at our fingertips, why should we let a silly little thing like this security drill keep us from enjoying them?"

Woolsey smiled at the man appreciatively. "Mr. Dimas is right. Atlantis has many things to offer. But nothing is better than the cuisine. Especially today. We have everything we need for the time being right here. Just enjoy the festivities and our drills will be over before you know it."

Kelore seemed to take that at face value as he smiled politely and nodded at Richard before he turned back to entertain his entourage. Woolsey was thankful. He looked around the room and his eyes caught on the small remote control car that Torren was playing with as it weaved through the legs of the various guests. The boy was already quite skilled at maneuvering the vehicle. But since his birth they had known that he would be gifted, like his mother, if not more so. No doubt he had other abilities hidden under the surface, just waiting to come out.

"So, tell us more of your plans for this miracle drug of yours," said Dimas, bringing the man out of his reverie and Richard Woolsey was once again the perfect host and diplomat.

/

The way to the power station was closed off. She hadn't taken the lockdown procedure into consideration when she'd formed her plan. But aside from that everything was going well. The Wraith were causing havoc in the city, giving the Atlantians just a small taste of what they deserved. What would transpire here today was a pale comparison to what went on during a Wraith culling of a helpless Pegasus village. But it would serve to show the people of this city their fault, their true impact here.

When she and her people had been plotting their revenge they hadn't known exactly what their actions against Atlantis would be, but they had left many options open. They'd collected weapons, chemicals, explosives, and most of all information to use against these humans. But Shiana's plan hadn't begun to come together completely until she'd seen their demonstration of the drug they had been trying to synthesize.

She'd believed that they would be witnessing the demonstration of a great weapon that would bring an end to the Wraith once and for all. But all they had was a drug to potentially take away their need to feed. How was that supposed to help them in the long run? A drug wouldn't stop the Wraith from terrorizing the galaxy. Just taking away one part of them did not change their nature. The Wraith were ruthless. The only way to stop them would be to put an end to them.

All that the demonstration had done for Shiana was to show her definitively that everything she believed and felt about these people all along was right. They wanted to make nice with the enemy instead of conquering them. That was the dumbest thing she'd ever heard of. If they had their way the villages of this galaxy and their people would forever be slaves to the Wraith.

These people thought they were so smart and empowered and better than everyone else in Pegasus because they had superior weapons and lived in the protective confines of this city. They pretended to know everything when they actually knew nothing. They needed to be dealt with just as the Wraith needed to be dealt with. They were both a plight on Pegasus.

So her plan was to eliminate them altogether. The Coalition did not need them as Kelore had led everyone to believe. Pegasus would fight its way to freedom without these people. They had been fighting on their own from the beginning without their so-called help. All the humans from Earth had done since coming to Pegasus was exacerbate the situation by waking the Wraith a generation too early. And they'd continued to make things worse and worse the longer they'd stayed.

It all had to end. And Shiana and her people were the ones who were going to make that happen. With the supplies they'd brought with them through the gate they marched through the unsecured sections of the city. The distraction of the Wraith was just what they'd needed to pull this plan off. All she needed now was the perfect location to place the explosives she'd secured.

Setting the Wraith loose to terrorize Atlantis and its people was only icing on the cake for Shiana, an added bonus before her ultimate strategy of revenge was fulfilled. She planned to destroy the entire city and all of its inhabitants. Once she and the rest of the delegation were safely through the gate, Atlantis would be obliterated, never to be heard from again. And then she would be free to deal with the problem of the Wraith the way she wanted.

/

John was furious. He had lost men before, seen up close and personal just exactly what the Wraith could do. He'd even been on the receiving end of it once or twice. But this situation was just unique enough to piss him off in an entirely new way. When his team had first discovered the bodies of Stavos and Wilkers they weren't quite sure what they had happened upon. The only reason they knew who the latest Wraith victims were was because the men's names were stitched on their uniforms. Their skeletons had been completely unrecognizable.

It was bugging the hell out of him trying to figure out how the Wraith had escaped in the first place. Over the years they had kept various Wraith prisoners within the city without incident. Why was this time different? And at a time when the eyes of the Pegasus Coalition were on them no less. He was starting to believe that their escape wasn't just by chance. And by that logic the deaths of his men were a deliberate act by someone in the city.

"Control to Colonel Sheppard," came Zalenka's voice over their coms.

"This is Sheppard," John answered.

"We're tracking all communications throughout the city and something out of sorts has just come up. Someone's attempting to broadcast a homing beacon through sub-space. He probably thought he was being covert by sending it through on one of the lower frequencies. I guess he didn't know that we've made monitoring all communication bands common practice as of late."

John turned to his team. "Rodney, can you stop the broadcast?"

Zalenka interjected before the man could answer. "That's not necessary Colonel. I was already able to do that without making the individual sending it aware that we have discovered it."

Rodney walked up beside Sheppard. "Zalenka, pinpoint exactly where the outgoing transmission is originating from," he ordered.

"Again, already done Rodney. That's the reason I hailed you. It's pinging from close to your location."

"Can we get a little more to go on?" asked Ronon.

"Head east thirty feet, turn left, another fifteen feet. There's a decommissioned communications lab. That's where you'll find him."

"That seems simple enough," said Teyla.

They began following the directions given to them. "Zalenka," John began. "Make sure Charlie stays put."

"Yeah," Zalenka said, still a step ahead of them. "I'm boxing him in now. The only way in or out of that lab now is the way you're going."

"Copy that," said the Colonel. "Thanks Zalenka, we're en route."

In seconds they were in front of the doors leading to the lab. Ronon and John took either side as Teyla and Rodney faced it head-on. John looked to Teyla for a signal as to what might be waiting for them on the other side of the door. She nodded her head, indicating that it was relatively safe for them to enter. With a deep breath, they all headed in.

They found Charlie standing over a powered-up terminal. He had jerry-rigged it so that it was drawing power from an independent source instead of drawing on the city's power. It would have prevented them from detecting his presence here if he had taken into account that the station was still connected to the internal sensors of the city. Everything was all linked together.

"Hands up slow," John ordered. "And turn around."

The Wraith Commander did as he was told, his trademark grin right in its place. John didn't like the look that he saw in Charlie's eyes. "Try it and end up like your friend," he warned him, sensing that he was thinking of making an ill-advised move against them.

"I wouldn't think of it," Charlie said instead.

"Can I shoot him anyway?" asked Ronon.

"Not until we find out just how he and his buddy got out of their cage," John answered. "I have a feeling it's going to be a very interesting story."

"That is something I believe I would want to hear," voiced Teyla.

/

They marched through the halls of the city, one destination in mind. Charlie was once again safely back in the brig. His dearly departed friend was being held on ice in the medical bay. Maybe either Dr. Keller or Dr. Beckett could use the specimen for more of their research. The search teams had recovered their own dead as well. And Atlantis' lockdown had been lifted without anyone being the wiser. Everything was returning to normal. There was only one thing left for them to do.

They made their way to the living quarters they had assigned to Shiana and her people. Charlie had been all too happy to give up her involvement in the escape. John didn't find it hard to hear that the woman was behind the entire thing. She had no love for the people of this city. That had always been clear. But that she had teamed up with the Wraith to exact her revenge was completely blowing his mind. She must hate them more than he thought.

Her actions were inexcusable. She had caused the deaths of four of his men. Aside from Stavos and Wilkers, the two guards posted outside of the brig had also perished shortly after being discovered by the search teams. She could have ruined the alliance that they had formed with the Coalition irreparably, which had probably been a goal of hers. She had released a monster to terrorize his city. She had put the lives of the entire city in jeopardy, including her own as well as her people. She was going to have to pay for her actions.

Arriving in front of Shiana's quarters, John had Rodney override the door lock before the marines barged in. John's team followed close behind them. More security teams fanned out to the surrounding quarters to collect her men. They found her standing on the balcony overlooking the city. His men went out there and dragged her back into the room to face them. She stood there, staring back at them defiantly.

"What is this?" she asked. "Is this how you treat your honored guests?"

"Just the guests who try to kill us," Rodney answered her.

"Your new pal Charlie gave you up," John told her. "We know you're the one who let him out. Because of you four of my men are dead."

"Only four?" she countered.

Her answer almost sent him in a rage. "Well maybe we can bring Charlie's body count up a little bit. Since you two are such good friends now, you won't have a problem sharing a cell." He looked pointedly to his marines standing on either side of her. "Guys please escort Shiana and her men to their new living quarters."

"Wait," Teyla said, stopping them before they could shove Shiana out of the doors.

Her team turned to her. "What is it?" Ronon asked her.

"There's something else going on here," she answered.

"What are you talking about?"

"She's hiding something. I can feel it."

A moment later a soldier who had been searching the rooms came back holding a bag full of handheld weapons and other devices they had never seen before. Rodney gave the bag a cursory scan. "Sheppard, I think she might have made a bomb given the contents of this bag," he informed them.

"Are you serious?" John voiced. "The Wraith loose in the city wasn't enough for you?" he asked Shiana. "Where did you put the bomb?"

"You think I'm going to tell you anything?" she said defiantly.

"You will if you want to live," he countered.

"We don't need her to tell us John," Teyla said, walking over to stand in front of Shiana. She stared the woman in her eyes, forcing herself to concentrate on the woman's thoughts and nothing else. She had been practicing her abilities since that first session with Layna and found that they were indeed expanding. If she focused enough she could do more than sense people's feelings or intentions. If she focused enough she could almost read their thoughts. And at that moment there was only one thing that Shiana was thinking about.

"I know where the bomb is," Teyla said definitively and Shiana's confidence fell apart.

/

Mr. Woolsey watched from his seat at the head of the table as Kelore paced impatiently back and forth in the conference room of the city. Breaking the news of Shiana's betrayal would not be an easy task and Atlantis had no idea exactly how the visitors would take it. The least they could do was to keep the situation in-house and not alert the entire delegation. Discretion was their only ally here.

As the Chairman of the Pegasus Coalition Kelore was the one man who needed to know everything that had transpired here today. He had been pulled aside from the rest of the celebrants in the mess hall by Mr. Woolsey as soon as they had learned of Shiana's part in today's events and brought here to await the news in private. On the way he had been informed of the escape by the Wraith and the true reason for the "security drill." He had not taken that news well, hence the pacing.

"So you have been deliberately lying to us," he accused.

"We needed to keep everyone calm and out of harm's way until we got the situation under control. It was not meant as a deception," Mr. Woolsey explained to the man, trying his best to mend Atlantis' already strained relationship with the Coalition. "As soon as we were sure everything was safe again we made it a point to inform you."

"Yes, after the fact. And don't think I haven't noticed that I'm the only one that you've let in on your little secret."

"Trust me, that is for your benefit, given the situation."

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean by that."

Mr. Woolsey activated his com. "Colonel, you can bring her in now," he said.

A few seconds later the doors to the conference room opened.

"What is the meaning of this?" asked Kelore of Latira as two marines dragged Shiana kicking and screaming into the room, followed by Colonel Sheppard and his team.

"We recaptured one of the Wraith alive. After questioning him we learned that Shiana and her men were responsible for releasing him," explained the Colonel.

Rodney opened up the duffle bag they had found in Shiana's quarters and emptied its contents out on the conference table. "We found these in her possession when we took her into custody," he said. "A secondary search of the city found several small crude explosives placed throughout key sections. They were set to go off after the delegation had returned home through the gate. If she had pulled this off there's no telling what kind of damage she could have done."

"But what is clear is that four of our men are dead because of her actions," ended Mr. Woolsey.

Kelore took in this information. He examined the contents of the table, unbelievingly. "Shiana, what is this?" he asked. The woman stood off and stared at the man in silent defiance. "Shiana, I demand an answer. Did you try to sabotage this city after they welcomed us here in friendship?"

"Friendship," she spat the word. "Look at what they have, what they hide behind while the rest of us suffer. And why do we suffer? Because they brought the plague of the Wraith down on us. They should suffer as we do. Their interference here has caused the deaths of countless people who might still be alive if they had never woken the Wraith. None of this would be happening if not for them."

"Exactly, Shiana," he agreed. "For once we may have a means to end the threat of the Wraith for good. The end of thousands of years of fear is within reach. If these people had not come we would just be waiting around for the next cycle of culling. With their help our children have the chance to live a life free of all of that."

"Not everyone's children," she said.

The silence that fell in the room was deafening.

Finally Kelore turned away from her stare to look to Mr. Woolsey. "On behalf of the entire Pegasus Coalition, I deeply apologize for this incident. Though apologies cannot restore the lives of the men you have lost today. I can only hope that you will not let the actions of one blemish your opinions of our organization as a whole and that this will not end our alliance. She does not speak for all of us, I can assure you."

"Of course not," Mr. Woolsey responded, ever the diplomat. "We are satisfied that Shiana and her men acted alone in this. I trust that you will deal with the situation accordingly on your end. Suffice it to say though, Shiana of the Tribes of Santhal will no longer be welcome here on Atlantis."

"Nor on the council of the Coalition, sir. She will be dealt with, you have my word."

Mr. Woolsey nodded his approval and signaled to the marines who still flanked the woman. "My men will escort her to our holding cell until such a time as you can arrange to have someone escort her through the gate."

"Thank you. I will see to it," he said as Shiana was led away.

"In the meantime, you and the rest of the delegation are of course invited to remain until the completion of the demonstrations."

/

/

It was a special day for Atlantis and the rest of Pegasus as well. Today was the day that their struggles against the Wraith turned a new corner. In just a few short moments a great weapon would arrive in the city and be at their complete disposal for the rest of their time here. It was something that everyone was greatly looking forward to.

John walked through the empty corridor of the north tower as he made his way to Layna's lab. She had set up shop in a section of the building that no one else frequented. It was always quiet and always lonely here. When she disappeared here, she wouldn't be heard from again for hours because she would become so immersed in her work.

As he entered the lab he found her bent over her workstation staring at some photos. He knocked as he stood in the middle of the doorframe but she didn't hear. She was just like Rodney in that way. Once she was in her zone, she was lost to the world around her. He walked up beside her and leaned up against her desk.

"Wanna see something cool?" he whispered in her ear.

She smiled as she finally looked up from her work. "Is it cooler than ten thousand year old Ancient writing carved into a cave wall beneath million year old ruins?" she asked him smartly.

"Well I guess that would depend on your definition of cool," he answered her. "I think it's pretty interesting though, but that may just be me."

She looked from him to her work and back as she mulled over her options. "Okay, I give. What new cool thing do you have to show me?"

He stood from his perch on her desk and offered her his hand. "Come with me."

She took his hand and he led her to the highest level of the tower. It was a spot that offered one of the best panoramic views of the city. He walked her to the east side of the building and pointed off into the distance, but at what she couldn't tell. All she could see was the city lights and the horizon behind it.

"If you're talking about the view, I've seen it before," she said smiling at him.

"Keep looking. You should see it in a moment."

Rolling her eyes at him she turned back. But as he said, a moment later she did see something. It started out as a small speck in the distance but as it grew nearer to the city she could see it for what it was, a ship.

"Is that the Daedalus?" she asked him as it made its final approach to the city.

"No, it's not. The Daedalus is back on Earth getting some much needed upgrades. That is the General Hammond," he told her. "And it's all ours."

She turned to him, curious. "Ours?"

"It belongs to Pegasus now. As long as we are aligned with the Coalition in the war here against the Wraith, the Hammond is our battleship. On the outside it's nearly identical to the Daedalus, but on the inside it's designed specifically for combat, combat against the Wraith, with firepower to match."

"And we're the first ones who get to see it?"

"The first here, yes. I know how fascinated you are by ships, which is why I thought this would be a nice treat for you." She watched enamored as the ship touched down on the pier before looking to him expectantly, flashing those stunning eyes at him. "Are you ready?"

"Ready for what?" she asked.

Instead of answering her he activated his com. "Hammond this is Sheppard. We're ready."

"Copy that Colonel," answered a male voice.

"Ready-" Layna started to ask again as a white light swept over them. "For what?" When she finished the question she and John were no longer standing in the north tower but on the bridge of a ship. They had been beamed instantly to the General Hammond.

"Colonel Sheppard," came a female voice standing near them. "Welcome aboard. It's nice to see you again."

"Thank you Colonel. I'm glad you finally made it back to Atlantis. We've missed you here." He turned away from the blonde woman to look to Layna, ready to make the introductions. "Layna, I'd like you to meet Colonel Samantha Carter."


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Layna knocked on the doorframe to Mr. Woolsey's office. The man looked up from his desk and registered slight surprise to see who it was calling on him.

"Ah Layna, what brings you out of that tower of yours all the way to my office?"

She raised the file she was carrying as she approached his desk. "I have the report on my progress with the translations from the cave," she said handing the file over to him.

"Anything worth our while yet?" he asked her, opening the file and giving it a cursory glance.

"I've been reading a lot of interesting things. Nothing yet on a great Wraith eliminating weapon. But, fingers crossed," she said with a smile as she raised her crossed fingers in the air.

"I'm sure that if the Ancients possessed such a weapon they would have used it themselves instead of abandoning this galaxy."

She conceded that point. "Well, there has to be a reason for these carvings."

"Perhaps, but-"

His thought trailed off as the gate began to dial in. "That can't be John's team already, could it?" she asked as Woolsey stood from his chair and the two of them made their way across the catwalk and to the control room.

"I have no idea. They're not due to check in for another hour," he informed her.

He walked to the center of the room and stood behind Amelia at her station as she checked the monitor. Layna stood off to the side of the entrance monitoring the situation. From her vantage point she noticed the smile that spread across Amelia's face as she recognized whose IDC was being transmitted. "It's Ronon's IDC, sir," Amelia informed.

He nodded his head in acknowledgement. "Lower the shield," he ordered.

"Yes, sir," she responded. "Lowering the shield," she said inputting the commands.

A second after the shield was lowered Ronon came running in heavy through the event horizon, a blast from an unidentified enemy following after him and landing on the stairs leading up to the control room. Another second went by before the people in the control room realized that the rest of Ronon's team would not be following him through the gate. Layna's fears were confirmed when Ronon looked up to the control room and signaled for them to shut the gate down.

"Raise the shield," Woolsey ordered before he chased after Layna who was already heading down to the gate room to meet with Ronon.

"What happened?" he heard Layna ask the man when he'd finally caught up to her down the stairs. "Where are they?"

"The Wraith happened," Ronon said answering Layna's question. "I don't know how but they were waiting for us on that planet."

"What?" voiced Layna. "But the MALP, everything was clear before you went through the gate."

"Yes," interjected Woolsey. "That planet was specifically chosen to release the Wraith because it's nowhere near any known Wraith planets or outposts. It was scouted and cleared ahead of time."

Ronon shook his head. "I don't know what else to tell you guys. It was a setup. They waited for us to come through the gate with Charlie and his friends and then before we knew it the place was swarming. They had ships in orbit, troops on the ground. We ditched the prisoners but by the time we got back to the gate we found it surrounded. I lured some of them away so that Sheppard and the others could dial in for reinforcements, but they were caught in the beam of a dart. We have to get back there before it's too late."

/

It was the sound of the booted drones marching down the hall that woke them. Both Teyla and Rodney opened their eyes to find themselves lying on the floor of a cell in the middle of a Wraith Hive ship. "I'd hoped I'd never have to see the inside of one of these again," said Rodney, miserably as he picked himself up off of the floor.

"We have seen more than our fair share of Hives, haven't we?" She looked around the cell. Not finding what she was looking for, she turned back to Rodney. "Where is John?"

"He was swept up in the dart beam with us. He should be here."

"Ah, you're conscious," came a familiarly taunting voice from outside of their cage. Two sets of eyes followed the sound and landed on Wraith Commander Charlie standing in the corridor on the other side of the bars. "Now the fun can begin," he said, smiling at them.

"That doesn't sound good," mumbled Rodney.

"You humans are so easily manipulated. It's a wonder you've managed to last this long."

"You'll find that we're very resilient," Rodney answered.

"Perhaps, but not very smart. You wouldn't believe how easy it was to contact my people right under your noses. That human woman did me a bigger favor than she thought by freeing me from that cell."

"Where is our friend?" Teyla asked him, taking a few confident steps closer to the bars holding her prisoner. She didn't care how they had been caught, only for the safety of her friend. As long as they were all still alive there was a chance they could get off of that Hive.

"Oh, you mean your Colonel Sheppard? You'll see him soon enough. We started with him first."

"Started what exactly?" asked Rodney, already regretting it.

"I mentioned the fun, didn't I? Well I meant my fun. Not yours. For months you people kept me in that cage of yours like some kind of pathetic animal." He looked pointedly at the bars separating them. "Who's the animal now?"

/

In the absence of the senior staff in its entirety, Mr. Woolsey had assembled Major Lorne's team, along with Ronon and Colonel Carter, in the conference room to discuss their options on a rescue mission for Atlantis Team One. Despite the urgency of the situation and the time crunch they faced, if they were to retrieve their people in one piece they had all agreed that going in without a solid plan wouldn't do anyone any good.

Even still, Ronon and Layna were both poised by the exit, eager to get through the gate and find their people. They knew that every minute they spent in this room debating their next course of action was another minute the Wraith had to torture John or Teyla or Rodney. Every minute they spent in this room was another minute closer to one or all of their people being fed on by the Wraith and lost forever.

Ronon had laid out for the group everything that he could remember of the attack on the planet. There had been several darts circling above them, with even more soldiers on the ground on foot. There had to be at least one Hive ship in orbit as well. That was all the information they had to form their operation around. Much of it depended on the hope that the Wraith would still be there when they got back.

"That's not a feasible plan," Colonel Carter said, shooting down Lieutenant Ayala's suggestion.

"We have to go now," Ronon insisted, clearly frustrated.

It was the fourth plan that had been rejected since they'd started. If it were up to him they wouldn't be wasting time in this room planning a rescue, they would be doing the rescuing. He had only come back through the gate to bring back reinforcements. If he'd thought he could have helped his friends without them he surely would have gone after them himself as soon as they'd been taken. Right now, he was wishing he'd taken that option anyway. At least then he would be doing something productive. They didn't need plans now, they needed action.

"We don't know how the situation on that planet has changed since you came through that gate," Mr. Woolsey argued.

"We know the Wraith have them, and we know what will happen to them if we don't get them back, and soon," Major Lorne countered.

"And we know that the more time we waste in this room, the more time things on that planet can change. The further and further the Wraith could be getting away with our people," said Ronon.

Mr. Woolsey sat in his seat giving the situation deep thought. Coming to the only decision that he could given the circumstances, he shook his head sadly. "I can't send another team in there without knowing what I'm sending them in to. I can't ask anyone to take that risk." He looked to his people, hoping they would hear the meaning behind his words.

Layna exchanged looks with Ronon and her team. They knew what was at stake here. They knew the risks. But they also knew their code. They didn't leave their people behind. There was no way that Layna would leave John or the others to fend for themselves against the Wraith or any other enemy for that matter. They were going after their people, no matter what or who stood in their way.

"You're not asking," Layna told Mr. Woolsey. "But we're definitely going."

She began heading out of the doors toward the gateroom. Ronon, Lorne and his team were right behind her. With a fleeting glance back at Mr. Woolsey, Colonel Carter also chased after them.

Major Lorne made his way to Layna's side as their group strode across the gateroom. "I'm all for going in there guns blazing, but I'm really hoping you have some sort of plan," he whispered to her.

"Otherwise, we might all be marching to our deaths," input Colonel Carter.

"I do have a plan," Layna told them. "We're going to need some supplies first." She looked pointedly to the Colonel. "And your ship."

Carter nodded. "The General Hammond has been waiting to sink its teeth into this war. Now seems like the perfect time."

/

'Come on John. Think of something else besides the pain. Think of anything else.'

This was his third private session with the Wraith. They had been at this for what seemed like hours, though it could have only been minutes. He had no way of keeping time here, and the torture they were inflicting on him as they were trying to break him could have been grossly warping his senses. Little did they know that whatever they did to him he would never give them what they wanted. He would die before he gave up the coordinates to Earth. Giving his life to save seven billion on his home planet was worth it.

But the pain that their constant draining of him inflicted was almost unbearable.

"Come on Human. Tell us the location of Earth and I will end you quickly," promised one of Charlie's lackey Lieutenants.

John grinned through the incredible pain and spit in the guy's face, erasing the smug look that had been taunting him as he was bound to the wall of their torture chamber by their slimy organic restraints. His new Wraith friend really didn't like that because a moment later he almost knocked John's head off his shoulders with a blow to the face before he attached his hand once again to the man's chest and continued the slow torturing feed.

This was not John's first time at this particular rodeo. When the Genii Commander Acastus Kolya had held him prisoner five years ago he'd had a Wraith prisoner known as Todd do something similar to him. Every few hours Kolya would have Todd brought shackled out of his cell and force him at gunpoint to take a few years at a time off of John's life while his people on Atlantis were forced to watch, helpless, through a video feed streaming in the control room of the city. Surprisingly, John had managed to come out of that ordeal alive. But he didn't remember the pain being as excruciating as this.

Then, no one had been aware that the Wraith could also restore what they had taken. After they had succeeded in escaping from Kolya's custody Todd had made good on his promise and given John back all the years that he had taken from his life. It was a weird sensation, to say the least, but afterwards he had never felt better. But what they were doing to him now was not the same. They were draining him in an entirely different way. It was as if they were stealing parts of his soul instead of years from his life. And the pain of that was considerably more agonizing.

Maybe this was what it had been like for Ronon when the Wraith had tortured him. It was now common knowledge that continually draining and restoring the life energy of a human, pushing them again and again to the brink of insanity, would eventually break the person, if it didn't kill them first, turning them against their own and into a Wraith worshipper. Ronon had held out for as long as possible but had still succumb to the drug-like enzyme left behind after a reverse Wraith feeding and become addicted to the euphoric state it left him in. John hoped he was as strong as his friend had been, or stronger even. He hoped they killed him before he became a worshipper.

"He's resisting," his torturer said, pausing to address someone standing off in the shadows.

John watched through weary eyes as Charlie emerged out of the darkness to smile wickedly down on him. "He can't hold out much longer," Charlie said, staring down at him like one would a mouse in a cage.

"And if he dies before he gives us what we need?" asked the Lieutenant.

"Then we have two others," answered Charlie. He turned back to look at John once more. "One way or another, we will get what we need, Colonel Sheppard. Your resistance will only serve to prolong your own suffering." Charlie turned back to his man. "Our queen requires the coordinates; I do not need to tell you what will happen if we do not deliver. Continue," he ordered his men.

John tried once again to ignore the pain. He forced his mind to focus on something happy and beautiful. And he found the obvious choice. He saw and thought of nothing but Layna. She was what would get him through this. She was the answer to everything. Deep within his being he knew that one truth. Layna was his salvation. He held on to that.

/

The jumper emerged through the wormhole cloaked onto the planet that their people had last been seen. Even still, at the activation of the gate, the Wraith on the planet were on alert and they concentrated all their firepower in the vicinity of the gate itself. Despite the cloak, most of the Wraith weapons made a direct hit with the small vessel. With their cover blown, the team inside the jumper decloaked and returned fire. The Ancient drones proved effective, taking out several of the Wraith darts circling the Stargate.

Major Lorne's team's puddle-jumper managed to land safely in a clearing a few klicks east of the gate. "This plan of yours is either incredibly brilliant or incredibly insane," Lorne told Layna as the team piled out of the parked jumper.

"I think it's a bit of both," voiced Jefferies as the jumper's ramp closed behind them and the jumper cloaked, concealing once again its presence from the darts circling in the air.

"Insane actually works for me," said Ronon as they began heading off.

They wouldn't get very far on foot with so many patrols of the Wraith enemy, but they wouldn't have to. Their pilot, Sergeant Perkins, would be hovering close to them in the air in their jumper, trying to give them their best shot at making it to their destination. If there were any obstacles in their way he would use the remaining drone weapons onboard the jumper to eliminate them.

They were heading back in the direction of the gate as a blast from a wraith stunner rifle came from out of nowhere almost hitting Lieutenant Jefferies. In response the jumper decloaked overhead to fire a drone at the group of Wraith foot soldiers blocking their way. But all the commotion only served to bring more soldiers their way and with the soldiers came the circling darts.

There were only so many enemy forces that Perkins would be able to clear for them. The puddle-jumpers only had a compliment of so many Ancient drone weapons. And the longer he stayed uncloaked the longer the darts as well as the Hive in orbit had to use him for target practice and shoot him down. The jumper needed to stay put and intact. Part of the plan depended on it.

Layna fired her P90 at the nearest Wraith drone she could spot. The others in her party did the same. They put on the greatest fight of their life. But in the end it wasn't enough. They knew it wouldn't be enough. Yet still they had no choice but to try.

/

"Incoming transmission," alerted Amelia from her station.

Since the rescue team had departed through the gate all that those left behind in the city could do was to wait. But the waiting wasn't the hardest part. The hardest part was not knowing what was going on. The hard part was being in the dark about what was happening to their people back on that planet or on that Hive ship.

"It's Sergeant Perkins on the planet's surface, sir," she informed.

Mr. Woolsey nodded. This was the call they had been waiting for. "Open the channel," he told her. She signaled once he was clear to address the other man. "This is Mr. Woolsey."

"Yes, sir," came Sergeant Perkins' voice over the com. "Major Lorne and the others have been captured by the Wraith. They've been taken up to the Hive," the other man reported.

"Thank you Sergeant," was Mr. Woolsey's response. "Maintain your position. Stay cloaked and continue to monitor the situation."

"Yes, sir."

Mr. Woolsey left the gateroom and walked the length of the catwalk back to his office. 'So far, so good,' he thought as he sat back in his chair at his desk.

Now the real waiting began.

/

The Atlantis team marched single file as the Wraith soldiers led them through the corridors of the Hive. They had been disarmed after being cornered and their resulting surrender. They had all prepared themselves for this outcome. They knew there was a large probability that they would end up in a holding cell right next to the very people they had come to rescue.

One of the soldiers prodded Ronon in the back with the butt of his stunner rifle urging him to continue on and Ronon used every ounce of restraint he had not to turn around and rip the drone's head off. But he knew that doing that might result in hurting one of his people, and that was counter-productive to their mission, so he refrained. If they were to have any shot at getting off of that Hive ship they would need all of their people able-bodied.

Layna and Lorne took in every nook and cranny as they were being led deeper into the bowels of the Hive. They looked for any weakness in their defenses, any means of possible escape for them and their people once they reached them, if they were in fact being led to where the others were being held. If they weren't, then they were in bigger trouble than they thought.

As Layna had been laying out her plans for this rescue attempt to her team, they had figured that the chances of the Wraith having more than one area for the holding of prisoners on a Hive were slim. And they were betting all their lives on those chances. They would definitely end up as Wraith food if luck had finally abandoned them.

They came to a clearing and were ordered to hold their positions. The Wraith soldier leading them moved to the wall and released the locking mechanism. The wall opened up into a holding cell and they were pushed in, the wall resealing shut quickly behind them.

"I take it the rescue mission isn't going as planned?" came Rodney's voice out of the darkness. A second later he stepped out from the shadows and into the light so they could see him. Teyla stepped out right beside him. Sheppard was nowhere in sight.

"It's going all right," Lorne answered.

"Where's Sheppard?" Ronon said, asking the question that Layna dreaded the answer to.

"Charlie has taken him," Teyla answered, making eye contact with Layna.

Lorne's team looked at each other, knowing that this latest development wasn't good for their plans on getting out of there. No one would be going anywhere without Colonel Sheppard. There was no telling what the Wraith were doing to him, or if he was even still alive. They had been in the Wraith's custody for several hours now. Anything could have happened to him since Teyla and Rodney had last seen him. They had two options, as far as Layna could see. They could continue with the plan now and try and find John after they escaped the cell, or they could wait and see if he would be returned to them. Neither of those options seemed optimal. They both left John's fate up to chance. They had come here to rescue the entire team. She wouldn't be leaving that Hive ship if John was not right by her side when she did.

Layna moved to Teyla's side. "Teyla, I need you to focus," she said. "I need you to use your abilities to reach out and find John."

"Layna, I-" Teyla hesitated, shaking her head. She had only recently started to develop these new skills of hers. She didn't fully trust them, especially with the life of her friends hanging in the balance.

"I know you can do it Teyla," Layna told her. "We have a plan to get us all out of here but we need to know where to find John, and you're the only one who can do that. Please, just concentrate."

Teyla looked to the faces staring back at her in the cell. They were counting on her to do this. John was somewhere on this ship counting on her to find him. She had to try. She nodded as she stepped back, away from her people and back into the dark and quiet of the corner. She tuned out everything around her forcing herself to focus on only the task at hand.

She thought about John. She reached out with her mind across the Hive ship, searching and searching for him. Her mind touched on several Wraith as she went. It was so much easier for her to connect with them. But she pushed on, until finally she found another mind reaching out to her through the haze. She reached back, but what she found troubled her.

She turned back to her people. "I know where he is," she declared. "I can lead you to him, but we must hurry. He is not well," she informed.

"So what's the plan?" Rodney asked them.

Layna exchanged looks with Lorne. They had a plan, but now it would have to be altered slightly to accommodate the added rescue of Sheppard. "The plan's evolving as we speak, Rodney," Layna said. "We don't have much time so we're going to have to split up. Rodney, we need you to locate their energy core. Jefferies and Ayala will go with you. Teyla will guide the rest of us to where they're keeping John."

"And how do we do that, exactly?" Rodney asked skeptically. "Stuck in here?"

Everyone's eyes turned expectantly to Ronon. The man reached up into his pinned-up dreads and pulled out a small tube of C-4 and a detonator. They had been counting on the Wraith missing it in their search and it had paid off. He tossed the items to the Major who attached it to the weakest point on the bars of their cell. After his people had taken appropriate cover at the far end of the cell, he detonated the charge.

/

Teyla led her people through the bowels of the Wraith ship as she followed John's mind closer and closer to his position. She had probed the minds of some of the Wraith on the ship and found the location of their armory. Both Atlantis teams were now fully armed as they navigated through the Hive ship on their separate tasks.

They were already operating on borrowed time. Their escape from the cell would not go unnoticed by the Wraith. For all they knew the hunt for them was already underway. They needed to get to John before the other team accomplished their mission. And they couldn't waste time in fighting with any Wraith who might try and stop their progress.

But the hope that they might make it to Sheppard without interference from the Wraith was short-lived as they turned down a corridor near where Teyla said they were keeping John and ran into a patrol of two drones. The drones wasted no time in alerting the ship's compliment to their location as they fired at the humans. Lorne and Ronon returned fire while Teyla continued to lead Layna a few meters down the corridor to a closed door.

"He is in here," Teyla said, opening the doors and walking through.

The two of them entered to find a large dark chamber filled with instruments of pain. They found John at the far end of the room bound to a wall. Layna moved quickly to him and breathed a sigh of relief when she discovered that he was still breathing. He was alive, but he wasn't in good shape. Teyla moved to help her free John from his bindings and down off of the wall. He was barely conscious as Layna set him on the floor, cradling his head in her lap.

A few seconds later Ronon and Major Lorne came running in the room after them. "We have a problem," Lorne said.

"He is in no condition to move," Teyla said to the men.

"That's not our biggest problem," said Ronon. "There are more Wraith coming. We're screwed if we don't get out of here now."

Layna's attention was focused on only John as she tried bringing him back from the brink of oblivion. Slowly his eyes began to focus until they found hers staring down at him. He smiled when he saw her. "I'll make it back to you," he said.

"I'm here," she assured him. "We're going to get you out of here."

But all he did was mumble to himself, delirious. "They won't break me," he cried out softly. "They won't. You keep me strong."

"There are more Wraith coming," Major Lorne told her. "We have to move. If the Wraith get here before Rodney makes it to the core we're probably dead."

Layna looked up to her friends pleadingly. "He's out of it. He thinks he's dreaming. We need him with us if we're to get out of here."

Lorne stood just inside the doors, his stunner rifle ready as he kept a lookout for signs of approaching Wraith. Ronon, at his side, looked about the torture room. There had to be something there that they could use to bring John back to his senses, if even just temporarily. On a table to his left were laid out an assortment of pain inflicting tools. One of them he recognized as a shocker, a weapon similar to the cattle-prod on Earth only far more deadly. He moved to the table and grabbed the shocker.

"I'm sorry about this buddy," he said to John as he kneeled at the man's side wielding the instrument. "But this is really going to hurt." He looked to Layna, almost asking for permission before he applied the shocker to John's chest and turned it on. The electric jolt coursing through John's body sent him into involuntary spams, and his friends were forced to watch him writhe in even more pain until the spasms ceased.

"It's not working," Layna said.

Ronon regretfully turned up the setting and shocked John again. This time the other man's eyes shot open as the electricity shot through him. "Ahhhh," Sheppard cried out as the pain finally jolted him awake. His eyes found his friend. "What the hell did I ever do to you Chewy?" he choked out.

Layna breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank God, you're awake. Are you okay?" she asked.

"No, I'm not okay. I spent hours being tortured and fed on by the Wraith and my best friend just nearly electrocuted me to death," he said as Ronon and Layna tried helping him up off of the floor. "Definitely not okay." He managed to get to his knees but not much further. He was so weak from the hours and hours of attention given to him by the Wraith.

"We kind of need to get going, buddy," said Ronon.

"I'm going to need a minute," John answered already out of breath with exertion.

"We don't have a minute," said Lorne at the door as he began firing down the corridor at the Wraith approaching their position. "Ronon, a little help over here, please," he begged.

The man left the side of his friend and joined the Major in guarding the door. Their concentrated fire power kept the Wraith enemy at bay, but more and more reinforcements kept coming. It was only a matter of time before they would run out of ammo. And when that happened, they would be right back where they had started. Their only hope was that Rodney and the others made it to the energy core.

/

Rodney led his security escort down the corridor. Thankfully, they had come across a data terminal along the way and he had been able to find a schematic of the Hive ship, so they were no longer flying blind. He knew exactly where they were headed. The only mystery was what or who might be in their way.

But Layna had a plan and once Jefferies and Ayala had laid it all out for Rodney on their travels through the ship, he had to admit that the plan was pretty genius. Sure it had a lot of moving parts involved, but if they pulled it all off, it would be one of their greatest feats yet. And he wouldn't mind mixing it up again with any enemy in the future if they had Layna and her brilliant rescue operations in their back pocket.

It had taken him awhile but he had really started warming up to her. At first he had been suspicious. He was always suspicious of mysterious newcomers, especially if John showed an interest. That was never a promising sign for a happy ending for them. That man rarely thought with his head when a beautiful woman was involved. But Layna was admittedly different. She was smart, and had proved herself useful time and again. She was good for John, and she was valuable to the entire expedition.

They were going to make it through this ordeal, like they had made it through all the ones before it. They always managed to make it through. They had a purpose here in Pegasus, and there was some great force out there that was always looking out for them, making sure that they lived to see it through.

He was and had always been a man of science. He didn't believe in much of a higher power, not in the sense that most people on Earth did. But he knew for sure that there were powers out in the universe, other beings with more power and greater understanding than they possessed. And he was sure that one of them had an eye out for them. Or at least he really hoped that they were.

So they were going to make it to the Hive's core. They were going to get back to their city and live to fight another day. They were going to win this war with the Wraith. All he had to do was to keep playing his part. All he had to do was to follow through with the plan laid out for him. And then if everyone else was doing their part, they would be home free.

/

They had only been able to hold out against the Wraith for a few minutes before their ammo inevitably failed them. With no other option, they were forced to do the unthinkable and surrender. The Wraith Lieutenant walked into the torture chamber they'd holed themselves up in, a half dozen of his drone soldiers flanking him on either side. They fanned out around the cell, surrounding Sheppard and the rest of the team.

The Wraith leader looked them all over, his attention moving from one to the next of them and then on again. As he passed John, the weakened man felt the Wraith trying to get into his head. He resisted as best his weakened state allowed him. Thankfully, he didn't have to for long because the Wraith moved on. But then he settled on Layna. Apparently he read something in her that appealed to him greatly.

"This one will make a fine meal," he stated.

John made a move toward her but was halted when the two soldiers closest to him aimed their weapons at him. "Don't you touch her," he spat at the Wraith. "You want somebody to eat, why don't you pick on someone your own size?" he said offering himself up on a platter, the effort alone draining all the strength he'd recovered since waking to find his team standing over him.

The Wraith looked to him pointedly and his mouth slowly curled into a disturbing smile. There was humor in his stare, as if the idea of draining John were the most ridiculous thing he'd ever heard. It was as if he had forgotten that that was exactly what he and his friends had been doing to John over and over again for the last few hours as they tortured him for information.

"Why would I choose you to feed on when with this one I will be sustained for twice as long?" the Wraith asked him humorously. He was having way too much fun playing with his food.

"What the hell are you talking about?" John asked.

The Wraith looked down at John with the look of a man with a secret he was all too eager to share. "The life she carries inside her," answered the Wraith and he took great pleasure in the shock that registered on John Sheppard's face as well as all the others in the cell.

John looked to Layna and read it in her face. She was just as surprised as he was. But if the Wraith was telling the truth, then they both had more to lose than either of them had thought. Layna was pregnant. The woman he loved was going to have his child. And this Wraith was about to take them both from him.

"Yes, they will sustain me for quite some time," he stated turning from John and back to stare admiringly down on his next meal.

"No!" John cried out as the Wraith attached his hand to Layna's chest and began to feed. Layna let out an audible gasp as the sensation overtook her. John looked on helplessly, fighting futilely against the two Wraith drones restraining him. Ronon, Lorne and Teyla were also putting up a fight, trying to get to Layna, but all to no avail.

This was how it was all going to end. His time in Pegasus would end with him forced to watch as an unnamed Wraith enemy drained the life out of a woman he had known less than six months but had come to love more than anything or anyone. And when the Wraith was done taking Layna's life-force John would soon follow. He would beg the Wraith to take his life, glad to end his own suffering. Because living one minute without Layna in his world was a pain he was sure he was not strong enough to endure.

Tears threatening to fall, John surrendered to his fate and found Layna's eyes as she looked helplessly across the chamber at him. He blinked back his tears, seeing only Layna, blocking out the Wraith and everyone else. In their last moments, it would be only the two of them. He would make that last glance last an eternity. He concentrated on those beautiful eyes of hers, and nothing else.

In that last look he tried to convey everything he had ever wanted to tell her, every feeling he had ever felt about her. Until she breathed her last breath he would not look away. He would make sure that the last thing she saw in this world would be his face, that she would know that she was loved and that she had made his life complete in just the short time she had been a part of it. And in her answering gaze he read the same from her.

But after a few seconds John began to realize that nothing was happening as he had expected. His vision slowly widened from Layna back to the entirety of the room and he could see that everyone else in the room were beginning to notice it as well. This feeding was not progressing as any other they had seen before. It was as if the feeding had no effect on Layna at all, like she had the Hoffan drug coursing through her system. But surely if she had the doctors on Atlantis would have taken notice of it.

An instant later the Wraith realized that his actions were ineffective on Layna as well, the expression on his face instantly changing from one of ecstasy to revulsion. He tried to rip his hand away but discovered that he could not. The connection between the two of them was unable to be severed.

John and the others looked on as Layna kneeled there, determination now etched across her face mixed in with both surprise and confusion. She was fighting back somehow against the Wraith, preventing him from being able to feed on her. And instead, it seemed that she was hurting him. Layna brought herself to her feet and the Wraith fell to his own knees in pain.

"What are you doing?" the Wraith cried out in agony.

He received his answer a second later as some sort of energy emanated from Layna at the point of contact that the Wraith had latched onto her. The energy jolted through him and he growled in pain. His hand finally released from her and he fell to the floor, lifeless. Major Lorne and the others took the surprising opportunity to overtake the other Wraith. They disarmed them and then unceremoniously shot them with their own weapons.

John moved to Layna's side. "How did you...?"

She shook her head, just as shocked and confused as he was. "I don't know. It just happened."

"Are you all right?" he asked her.

"I think so."

"Both of you?" he asked as he touched her belly, realizing that there was more than just the two of them to think about now.

Her eyes followed his hand before she looked back up at him. "John, what that Wraith said, I don't know. I didn't know."

"Either way, I want nothing more than to get you off of this ship." He turned to his people. "How are we doing that exactly?" he asked them.

/

Lieutenants Jefferies and Ayala were both standing outside of the room containing the Hive's energy core guarding the door while Rodney worked on starting an overload of their systems. It was the only way they were going to be able to get off of the ship. There were no gates, they didn't have a jumper, and only John knew how to pilot the one-seater Wraith darts. Overloading the core and disrupting the electro-magnetic jamming signal keeping their people from sensing their trackers was their only option. According to Layna and the others the Hammond had left Atlantis headed here just before the rescue team had departed through the gate. So by all accounts they should be within range already.

"How's it coming in there?" shouted Ayala.

"About as good as the last time you asked me, a minute ago," Rodney answered smartly as he continued to work.

"Well you've been at it for a while now, and there's no telling what's happening with our other team. The sooner we can get off of this damn Hive the better," said Jefferies.

"It takes as long as it takes, you guys. I'm working as fast as I can in here."

/

The General Hammond had been waiting at the same coordinates for over an hour and still they had no signal from their people within the Hive. They were just outside of sensor range of the Wraith orbiting the planet, but their coms and trackers transmitted over further distances. Tracking their people wouldn't be a problem at this range if only they could get a signal.

"Anything on sensors yet?" Colonel Carter asked her bridge crew for the fifth time.

"Nothing yet, sir," answered her tactical officer.

Sam held her breath. The rescue operation was a risk to begin with. The odds of their people making it back were not great. Any other group and she might have written them off already. But these were the brave men and women of Atlantis. They always defied the odds and made it through the incredible. If there was a way off of that Hive they would be the ones she would bet on to find it.

Layna had had the idea of intentionally getting the rescue team captured by the Wraith. Carter had thought that the plan was so crazy it might actually work. It was the kind of idea that General O'Neill might have come up with when the two of them were on SG-1 together. It was the fastest way for them to get onboard the Hive. All they had to do once there was manage to keep a few key items with them when they were brought to the holding cells. Layna had also had the bright idea to use Ronon's hair as the perfect smuggling method. It really was kind of ingenious.

Once the teams escaped from the holding cells they would have to disable the electro-magnetic jamming signal on the Hive while also avoiding recapture. Once that was done their trackers would be able to transmit to the waiting Earth vessel. The Hammond would jump to orbit around the planet, fire a few distracting shots at the Hive while they beamed their people out of there, and then jump back into hyperspace home free back to Atlantis.

But any of a million things could have gone wrong between the time the rescue team departed through the gate and now. There was no back-up plan if this mission went south. What did she do if the jamming-signal was never disabled? Did she risk her crew by going in there to battle the Hive? Without the confirmation of the teams' transponder signal she had no real way of knowing if they were even still alive on that Hive. She could only hope.

"The Hive is powering down," informed her tactical officer, bringing her out of her thoughts.

"I'm detecting a transponder signal," her coms officer reported. "Eight are coming from onboard the Hive ship."

Sam breathed a sigh of relief. 'They actually did it. They pulled it off,' she thought to herself. She stood from her command chair on the bridge, ready for action. "Jump to position. Ready the rail guns."

A few seconds later, the hive was visible on their view-screen as they came out of the jump. She looked to her tactical officer to her left. "Lay down some fire. Get our people out of there," she ordered.

The man nodded as he worked the controls. The ship vibrated as a Wraith torpedo hit its shield. A few answering shots beamed out from the Hammond. Her tactical officer worked his magic, locking on to their people's individual transponder signals and beaming them onboard the Hammond. "We have them. All heads accounted for, sir," he reported.

Sam nodded. "Set our course back to Atlantis. Let's go home."

/

They wheeled John into sickbay onboard the Hammond and Layna was right by his side the entire time. He was as weak as she had ever seen him. Even still he fought off treatment from all the doctors swarming around him. "No, I'm not letting you do anything to me until I know for sure that Layna and the baby are okay," he moaned.

"John, you're in bad shape," Layna said looking down at him concerned. "I'm fine."

"No arguments," John croaked. "We don't know what the hell happened on that ship. Or if it could have had any effect on you or the baby. I need to know that you are both safe."

"And I need to know that you are," she counter-argued.

"Aye," Dr. Beckett piped in. "I believe I can settle this. I will run a complete scan of Layna but you have to let Dr. Keller examine you, Colonel. You look like death warmed over as it is."

John eyed Carson Beckett. "Layna and I get checked at the same time?"

"Aye," Beckett agreed.

John could see that this was the best offer he was going to get before they restrained him and treated him against his will, so he nodded his head in ascent. "Fine," he sighed. He did feel like passing out. He had since the Wraith had first laid hands on him for that very first feeding. But he would not give in to his fatigue until he knew Layna was really all right. He would not rest until he knew.

Layna grabbed his hand and squeezed it tightly before she plopped up on the med bed beside his. Carson moved to wheel over the full medical scanner while Jennifer began her examination of John. She shown the brightest of pin lights in both his eyes, asked him to follow her finger with his eyes, checked his vitals. "How are you even still conscious," she asked when she reviewed her readings.

"Because he's bloody stubborn," Carson answered for him as he set up the scanner for Layna.

Layna smiled as the scans began. "Yes, very bloody stubborn," she agreed. She looked to John at her side and reached out to grab his hand again. She needed the comfort and reassurance as much as she knew that he did at the moment.

A few moments later the room was filled with a fast thumping noise. It startled both John and Layna and they both looked expectantly over at Carson. "What is that?" John asked.

"That, my friend, is the sound of your baby's heart," he informed.

"You can hear the heartbeat already?" Layna asked. "It's so soon."

"Aye, nine weeks, plenty of time," he commented as he looked over the readings. "Everything checks out fine here," Carson continued. He looked pointedly over to John. "Whatever went on on that ship, it doesn't seem to have affected either Layna or the baby, Colonel. They are both perfectly healthy."

Perfectly healthy. The words he'd been waiting to hear. She was okay. They were both going to be okay. The sound of the heartbeat of their baby seemed so strong to him as well. It assured him more than even Carson's words. The sounds comforted him. He listened to it, like a lullaby. It took no time before he finally gave into his exhaustion and let the sounds lull him to sleep.


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

The entire Hive was on edge as the red-haired Queen stormed through the halls. She was out for blood, and anyone would do right now. She had arrived with her armada to find the Hive disabled and the prisoners she had been promised who held the key to Atlantis and Earth gone. Her soldiers had failed her miserably, and it was a failure that would not be forgiven.

Every victory the humans won over them was another affront to their power as a superior race, as the dominant species of this galaxy. If she couldn't count on her most trusted soldiers to simply secure her a handful of humans for longer than a few hours, how could she hope to carry out her plans of defeating the galaxy and leading the Wraith to the bountiful feeding grounds of Earth?

Her envoy marched her to the bridge where she had commanded the remaining officers onboard this hive to await her. There were three of them waiting when she walked into the dim chamber, one of her Commanders and two Lieutenants. They bowed respectfully when they saw her, as if that would save them from her wrath.

"My Queen," said her Commander.

"You dare address me," she spat at them. "You have failed me. Tell me, why should I allow you to live after what has happened here?"

"This one was there in the room when it happened," the Commander said, indicating the Lieutenant to his left and successfully getting his Queen's attention away from himself for the moment.

She turned to the Lieutenant with absolute disgust written on her face. "You are the one responsible for the escape of my prisoners?" she questioned.

"No, my Queen," he protested.

"You deny the humans' escaped on your watch, from your custody?"

"No. But there was a woman with them. She and another team came for the prisoners. This woman, my Queen, she is not like the rest. She possesses a power unlike anything we have encountered before," answered the Lieutenant.

"Power?" she questioned. "What sort of power?"

"There was a feeding but on her it was ineffective. The one who fed on her, she killed him with an energy that knocked the rest of us out. The energy, it came from her, my Queen."

This new information was very disturbing. For the humans to possess such a power would be a huge blow to Wraith power. There had never been a power in this galaxy that could rival their own. Once, the Ancestors had been formidable in battle, but even they had fled Pegasus. But this woman her Lieutenant spoke of was entirely different. She was an unknown.

Were the humans developing new abilities? Was this woman the first of many to stand against Wraith and conquer? It was only a matter of time before word of this spread and the other Hives heard about what transpired here. It was only a matter of time before they all learned of this new threat.

"There is another thing, my Queen," her Commander added.

"What?" she snarled.

"The woman, she carried another life inside her."

She was right. This would only be the beginning.

/

/

They were hiding, as usual. All they did was hide. For ten thousand years, that was how they had persevered. Years and years ago they had been a mighty race, one of four of a great alliance of power and strength. Once they had been the protectors of the lower races. In their prime they would have been able to protect the humans of this galaxy from the tyranny of the Wraith, but not any longer. Now they were all that was left of the great Asgard race.

But they were a dying race. They had been for a long time. The degeneration in their cells with every new generation of clones was too much to overcome. Despite their best efforts at reconstructing their pre-cloning DNA, all they had managed to do so far was to slow the inevitable. They had been able to survive longer than their counterparts outside of this galaxy they now called home. But unless they found a cure for their affliction quickly, they would soon follow the others.

"The humans of Earth have encountered the Wraith again," said Neinun to the others as he monitored things from his station on the bridge of the Asgard ship.

From their current position, and with their technological capabilities, they were able to monitor several of the comings and goings in Pegasus. They had been keeping close tabs on Atlantis and all of their interactions with the Wraith as of late. There was no telling how much more damage their conflict could inflict on the galaxy, and the more damage caused here the closer and closer the Asgard grew to losing their only suitable home.

"Is there anything that we should be worried about?" asked Jiakal.

"I'm not sure. There are reports from the Wraith of a human woman with a new power," he answered.

"What sort of power?" voiced Soin, moving to Neinun's station to take a look at the censor readings himself.

"A power similar to that of the Ancients," answered Neinun.

That last mention of their old allies stirred Nall's interest. "Bring what you have up on the main screen," he commanded.

Neinun did as instructed and the information was projected onto the main screen of the bridge for all to examine. Constant Wraith communiqués scrolled across the screen. Word of the events on that Wraith Hive were spreading across Pegasus like wildfire. The Wraith were frantic to find the woman and learn the secrets her existence carried.

"That one right there," Nall said, isolating the information stream that had captured his attention. All eyes on the bridge were focused on the screen.

"There is mention of a child," Jiakal noted.

"Yes," was Nall's one word response.

The bridge was quiet as this information was processed. There was only one thing running through all of their minds. It was a prophecy long ago told in this galaxy, and almost as long forgotten. And until now they had not thought it to be true.

"The one from legend, I believe," said Nall.

"If that is true then the key to our survival may be within reach," said Soin.

/

/

John was making his way to the gear room, happy to finally be going back out on a mission. This would be his first since being rescued from that Hive. After returning to Atlantis onboard the General Hammond he had spent the following three weeks recovering from the ordeal in the medical bay of the city.

If he had thought that the torture of being fed on over and over again by the Wraith was pain, he'd learned an entirely new level as he went through the extensive detox it took to get the addictive enzyme left after the feedings out of his system. He didn't want to have to see the inside of that medical bay again at least until the baby was born.

"How was Earth?" Rodney asked as he met up with the man in the hall.

"It was great," John answered. "Saw my brother and his wife. Showed Layna the beach, got some surfing in, took her to her first football game. Got married. Did some sight-seeing around the Capitol."

"Wait," Rodney said stopping him. "Did you just say that the two of you got married?"

John raised his left hand as they walked and the light from the corridor glinted off of the silver band encircling his ring finger. After finally getting out of the medical bay he'd had no time to relax before he'd been called to Earth by General O'Neill. He'd taken Layna along, finally getting the chance to show her his homeworld and all its many wonders.

"Wow, this day just keeps getting better and better. Why'd you go and do a thing like that for?" Rodney was clearly not as excited about the news as one should be for their friend.

"Gee, I don't know Rodney," John responded, rolling his eyes. "Maybe because I love her and can't imagine my life without her. Or that we're having a baby. Or maybe I want to make sure that they will both be provided for if something should happen to me, because, in case you haven't noticed, we're in the middle of a war. Which one of those answers will get you to leave me alone?"

"I just can't believe it." Rodney shook his head.

"Can't believe what?" Ronon asked as he met them a few steps outside of the gear room.

"Sheppard and Layna got married," Rodney said as the men entered the room.

"Why'd you go and do a thing like that?" Ronon said, echoing Rodney's earlier words.

John stopped in the middle of putting on his tactical gear and stared in the faces of both his friends. "There's something seriously wrong with you guys," he said before he continued on. "And since when do the two of you agree on anything, anyway?"

"Never," Ronon grumbled.

"We do when it affects the both of us personally."

"I'm glad to see that this conversation, like everything, has been brought back around to you, Rodney."

"You're absolutely killing us, Sheppard," said Rodney.

"Sorry guys. It is what it is," John responded as the three men finished putting on the rest of their gear needed for the upcoming mission.

"This is the worst thing you could have possibly done to us," Rodney continued just as Teyla stepped into the room with them.

Teyla turned to them curiously. "What did he do?" she asked.

"He and Layna got married while they were back on Earth," Ronon answered her.

"Wow, congratulations!"

"Thank you Teyla," he said, genuinely relieved. He turned to the two men. "You see that, right there guys. That's the reaction you're supposed to have. That's the appropriate response to the news that your friend got married."

Rodney looked to Ronon. "Did we not say that?" he asked.

Ronon grinned. "I think we might have skipped that part."

Rodney turned back to Sheppard. "We're happy for you?" He said it in the form of a question.

"Wow, that was very special and heartfelt," John deadpanned. He rolled his eyes and shook his head as he grabbed a P90 off of the gun rack and snapped it to his vest. "Whatever, let's just go and get this thing over with," he said heading out of the gear room and to the Stargate. "I've got a wife to get back to."

His team smiled after him.

/

The Genii were the only true organized military power in the Pegasus galaxy besides Atlantis who were even remotely capable of defending against the Wraith. There had been others in the past, but they had all been defeated and exterminated. But not the Genii. The Genii had learned from those that had fallen before them and had hidden their true power from the Wraith enemy above.

For generations they had been building their strength underground. Their numbers since the last culling had grown, as well as their technology and their resolve. Their entire existence for the last three hundred years was about one thing and one thing only: defeating the Wraith and ending their destructive hold on Pegasus.

Ladon Radim stood with the high ranking officers of his army as they waited for the Atlantis team to arrive. Their alliance had been a strained one over the years, to say the least, but somehow they had kept it all together. Mainly, their treaty had endured by very little interaction with one another. But today that would not be the case.

The gate on the Genii planet began to dial in. Ladon and his men stiffened their backs, some holding their breath in anticipation as they readied themselves for their guests. One of the Atlantis small flight vessels emerged through the event horizon, followed closely by a second. As the second vessel settled just to the left of the gate, the first made a swoop around the clearing before it settled by its twin.

Ladon motioned to his men and they moved to meet the jumpers as the Atlantis teams exited their vessels. Colonel Sheppard and his team marched down the lowered ramp of their jumper to meet their greeting party.

"Welcome," began Ladon. "Nice to see you again Colonel."

Colonel Sheppard nodded his acknowledgment. "Thanks Ladon. It has been awhile," he said gazing about his surroundings. There still wasn't much to look at on the Genii home planet, at least not above ground. "You and your men set to go?" he asked turning back to the current leader of the Genii forces.

Ladon nodded his ascent as the Atlantis team stepped aside to usher them onto their vessel. His personal escort joined him on the lead ship, the rest of his men boarded the second. As a courtesy, Colonel Sheppard allowed Ladon to sit in the cockpit beside him as he took his place at the helm. Dr. McKay and Teyla took the two seats behind them as Ronon stood ominously in the doorway separating the aft section.

Ladon watched as the Colonel deftly maneuvered the controls. As the ship was lifted into the air he gripped the arms of his seat tightly. It was a very odd experience, flight. He had never been inside a space vessel before. "Would you like to do the honors?" the Colonel asked him, indicating the dialing device within the ship. Ladon nodded his approval and wasted no time in dialing the address of their destination. "All right ladies and gentlemen," began the Colonel. "Please keep your seats locked in the upright position. Remain seated for the entirety of your flight. Once we come to a full and complete stop be sure to tip your pilot on the way out."

Ladon looked to him quizzically. "What?"

"Nevermind," he answered shaking his head.

"See," piped in Rodney from the back. "They don't find you funny either."

John rolled his eyes as he maneuvered the jumper through the gate. They came out on the other end to empty space. The gate had been taken from an uninhabited planet by the Daedalus and placed in this location in the middle of empty space in Pegasus. It was a secret only known to Atlantis and the Traveler clan, and now the Genii. It was where the Travelers had settled. Just a short hyper jump away was the first settled Traveler planet in over three hundred years. But that was not where they were going.

The Travelers claimed the entire region of space around the gate. Over the years they had been able to procure several vessels of flight left behind by the Ancients and other long forgotten races. It was only until recently, with the help of the people of Atlantis, that they had acquired the necessary tools and skills with which to repair and restore them to operational condition. And now their fleet was finally almost ready.

The jumpers headed away from the gate and to coordinates a few minutes away. It was there that they came upon a cluster of these salvaged ships. Colonel Sheppard opened up all hailing frequencies. "Traveler ship Spitfire, this is Jumper One."

"We read you Jumper One," came a male voice over the coms.

"Permission to board?" he asked.

"Granted, we're opening the hangar doors now."

"Copy that, Spitfire. We're on approach."

From their vantage point they watched as the hangar doors were opened in front of them. Sheppard piloted the jumper inside with ease. Lieutenant Jefferies piloting the other jumper was right behind him. After they came to rest in the hangar and exited their crafts they were greeted by Larrin and her entourage.

"Chief Commander Radim," Larrin said in her best diplomatic voice. "Welcome to the Spitfire."

"Thank you," he said, taking in the atmosphere.

Besides Atlantis, the Travelers were the only group in the alliance who were capable of space travel. Atlantis had only, at best, two battle ships and a handful of puddle-jumpers at their disposal with which to combat against the Wraith. The ships that the Travelers had salvaged would be of great use in strengthening the forces of the Coalition. But where the Travelers possessed flight, the Genii had much needed weaponry, skill and military discipline. It was only logical that they combine their strengths in the fight against their common enemy.

"Please, this way. My men will show you to the bridge," she said, stepping aside with a gesture. With a curt nod Ladon and his men moved off. Larrin hung back with Sheppard and his teams. "Are you sure that this is a good idea?" she asked once the Genii visitors were out of hearing range.

John nodded as Teyla answered. "Ladon and his regime have proven themselves trustworthy over the last couple of years."

"Mostly," Ronon added.

"And with that ringing endorsement," said John. "We should probably head in there after them."

"It looks as if the repairs have been coming along nicely," observed Rodney as they walked through the ship towards the bridge.

"They are. I'm sure we could manage more efficiently with more of your help Dr. McKay."

"Oh, you can keep him," John offered eagerly. "For as long as you like."

"Maybe longer," piped in Ronon.

"Thanks a lot you guys," mumbled Rodney, rolling his eyes.

Larrin turned to Rodney. "If you do have some time, we could use your assistance with some of the systems in operations."

Rodney nodded and smiled happily. "Sure. At least someone appreciates my expertise."

/

/

Layna was once again completely wrapped up in her work. Since returning from Earth with John two months ago she had gotten so much work done in her lab. With the pregnancy, she had taken a temporary leave from off-world missions and dedicated all of her working hours to going over every inch of writing on those cave walls.

Every word she read only helped to fan the flames burning within her for answers. And for every answer she acquired from the writings, another question was right on the next page to take its place. After going through the first sections of the cave she had discovered that it contained even more than just the log dates and events. The writer had also left behind some personal notes etched into the walls of the cave as well. Once she'd finished reading them she discovered the truth behind the carvings. They were a journal of sorts, a secret kept locked away and hidden.

"You look like you've discovered something interesting," came John's voice.

Layna looked up from her work to see John leaning casually against the doorframe to her lab. "What are you doing up here?" she asked with a large grin.

John pushed himself away from the door and made his way into the room to Layna's side. "I thought I'd come by and offer to buy my girls some lunch."

"One, the food here is free so you're not getting any points for that. And two, what makes you so sure that this is a girl?" she asked rubbing her baby bump. "There's a fifty percent chance it could go the other way."

"Let's just call it a lucky guess."

"Or wishful thinking," she said as she put aside her work and turned to look to him curiously. "John, are you hoping for a girl? The way I've seen you with Torren, I'd have thought you would want a son."

He shook his head. "Whatever this kid is, I want it," he answered sincerely. "Boy or girl, I don't care as long as it's healthy and grows up to fly like its dad."

"We could have solved this mystery a month ago when Dr. Keller offered to tell us the sex of the baby."

John frowned down at her. "Where's the fun in that? Anyway, in four more months the kid will be here and we'll find out. Until then I'm happy to just relish the thought of meeting her, or him," he added fairly as an afterthought. He gestured toward the work on her desk. "What are you working on?" he asked.

She turned back to her station and picked up one of the photos of the cave sketches. "The last of the carvings in the cave are different than the rest."

"How so?"

"It's a reflection," she stated. "All of this," she said indicating all the photos of the cave that were pinned up covering every inch of wall space in her lab. "It was written by one person, an Ancient woman. And she had the gift of foresight."

"It wasn't uncommon for some of the Ancients to have abilities."

"Yes, but even you have to admit that this is incredible. I mean she predicated things thousands and thousands of years ahead of her reality. Ten thousand years ago she saw you, John. She saw this expedition before civilization on your planet was even a thought."

John looked over her shoulder at the photos. "That is a neat trick," he conceded. "You were saying that these carvings you're studying now are different? Some sort of reflection?"

She nodded. "The writer talks about her visions a bit, but the writing is mostly about her sister, Chanis."

"Was she gifted too?" he asked curiously.

"No she wasn't. But her sister wrote that it was only because Chanis was keeping herself from her full potential. As powerful as the writer's gifts were, she believed that it was her sister who possessed the true power. She saw it."

"Okay, and what became of them?" he asked. "Does it say anything about that in this reflection?"

"I assume they ascended like all the other Ancients."

"I guess the writer didn't see that coming," he quipped grabbing her hand and lifting her from her seat. "Let's go get that lunch."

/

John arrived in the gateroom just in time to hear Mr. Woolsey ordering the latest meeting of anyone within his eyesight. After a relaxing lunch with Layna and feeling the baby's spirited movements Sheppard was in high spirits, and a three hour meeting with Woolsey droning on and on would certainly change that. He quickly made an about-face and tried to escape the gateroom without Woolsey spotting him but unfortunately was unsuccessful.

"Ah, Colonel Sheppard, just in time," Woolsey called down to him from his position at the balcony. "We're about to begin. There are several points I'd like to discuss with you in particular about our current off-world activities."

Caught, and resigned to his fate for the next several hours, John sighed and nodded his acknowledgement. "I'll be right there," he said, several passersby smiling at him on their way out of the gateroom. They were the lucky ones, he thought enviously. He headed up to the conference room.

After about an hour with Woolsey, Sheppard was ready to request reassignment from the Atlantis expedition. His posting back on Antarctica was better than listening to Mr. Woolsey's one-hundred point lecture. He wondered how Layna and the baby would take to the twenty below temperatures.

Somehow, his entire team had found a reason not to attend the meeting. If he made it out of that room without intentionally rupturing his eardrums or severing Woolsey's vocal chords, he would pay them back for this abandonment.

Thankfully for him, an alarm sounded throughout the city. It was the proximity sensor, blaring the warning of something approaching Atlantis. Mr. Woolsey and Colonel Sheppard rushed out of the conference room and made their way to the control room. They both stood over Chuck's shoulder as he tried to figure out what was going on.

"Something's approaching the city," Chuck reported. "Whatever it is, it's coming in fast."

"Can you tell what it is?" Woolsey asked.

They watched the display as a dot representing whatever had started the alert moved closer and closer to the city. And then they stood amazed as it apparently penetrated their shield.

"It just passed right through the shield," Chuck said, shock evident in his voice.

"That's impossible," Mr. Woolsey said.

"I've seen this before," Sheppard said, heading out of the control room. He began contacting his security teams on his way to the gear room.

Woolsey followed him out into the corridor. "Colonel Sheppard?" Mr. Woolsey called after him.

"The Asgard are back," John called back over his shoulder as he hurried on his way.

He reached the gear room in no time and found two teams of his marines fully armed and ready to move. He threw on a vest and loaded as many guns and magazines as he could along with an ancient scanner and they headed out, with him in the lead. The last time the Asgard had come to Atlantis they had been after the Atero Device that Janus had created to disable the Wraith. And with it they had taken Rodney and Dr. Daniel Jackson.

That was almost two years ago. Before then the Atlantis expedition had been in the Pegasus galaxy for five years without even knowing that there were any surviving Asgard at all, let alone that they were in hiding in the same galaxy. This new group of Asgard had kept to themselves for over ten thousand years. And now they had breached Atlantis twice in as many years. Whatever they were after this time, Sheppard was sure he didn't want them getting their hands on it.

The Asgard weapons were more powerful than theirs, their suits practically impenetrable. They were going to need all the men and ammo they could muster to defend against this assault. And that's exactly what he was sure that this was, an assault. The Asgard hadn't broken through the defensive shield of the city to make talks of peace.

He activated his com. "Chuck, this is Sheppard. What section of the city are they in?" he asked.

"Sir, they are currently on the west pier, headed toward the tower."

John didn't even need to think about what was in that part of the city. He had been there earlier that day. The tower was where Layna's lab was. That was the only thing in that section of the city. The Asgard were headed straight toward her.

The nearest transport was a few hundred meters away from John's current position. If his teams took it, they would be taken to another transport a few decks away from Layna's lab. Then they would have to hustle the rest of the way there. He and his men rushed to the transport. The Asgard didn't seem to let anything slow them down in their pursuits.

When his teams emerged from the transport they found the Asgard forces in abundance between themselves and Layna's lab. It was no surprise that they had beaten them to Layna's position. John signaled to some of his men to double around the other side of the lab. They would stand a better chance of getting passed the Asgard if they attacked them on two fronts.

Sheppard and the four men remaining with him took cover around the corner of a corridor as they exchanged weapons fire with three suited Asgard intruders. But just as before, their bullets just bounced off the energy shields projected by the suits. Their inferior weapons would be no use against the Asgard's advanced technology. But that wouldn't stop them from giving it their best shot to try and save Layna. John signaled to his men to maintain continuous fire on the shield. He was hoping that there was some kind of limit to its resistance or power source. That plan soon went out the window when he saw what was going on in the corridor behind the energy shield.

"Hold your fire," John called out as he saw an Asgard carrying an unconscious Layna out of her lab. He didn't want her accidentally hit by friendly fire. He stood from his protected position and moved deeper down the corridor, his weapon trained on the Asgard closest to him. He watched intently, waiting for his opening, as their forces gathered around Layna. But that opening never came. And in a flash of light he had come to recognize after all these years as the Asgard beaming technology, they were whisked away.

John activated his com. "Rodney, this is Sheppard. I don't care what you have to do but you had damned sure better re-enforce that shield. The Asgard have taken Layna. They cannot get away." There was silence on the other end of the line. "Rodney!" Sheppard yelled.

The line went active a few seconds later. "I'm sorry," came Rodney's voice in his ear. "It's too late. They're already gone."

And with those words John Sheppard's world shattered.

/

"Rodney, you said you fixed the problem with the shield, that they wouldn't be able to slip through it again," John roared as he charged back into the control room of the city. He made a beeline for the other man and had him in his grasp before anyone else in the room knew what was happening.

"Well I thought I had," Rodney cried out, a seething Sheppard inches from his face. "Obviously, they have better tech than we do," he offered.

John grabbed the man by the flaps of his jacket and lifted him forcefully out of his seat. "Or maybe you're just not as smart as you think you are," John spat at him as the room looked on in shock. "And now because of you, they have Layna."

"Colonel Sheppard!" Mr. Woolsey called to him from across the room as he stood in the threshold of the control room. It was enough to bring him back from the edge. John looked around the room and saw the looks on the faces around him, the faces all staring at him. He looked down to his hands and saw how tightly they were entwined in Rodney's jacket and realized how close he had just come to completely losing control.

John released his hold on Rodney and the man slumped back down into his seat. He took a few cautious steps away and tried to regain his composure. He needed to be the Colonel now. A desperate husband was not going to help them to find Layna. If he was to have any chance of seeing her again he was going to have to take all emotion out of the equation, to think clearly and without objective or bias, like a soldier.

"I need you to figure out how they found us," he began, slowly composing himself.

"Yeah, Zalenka and I already started working on it," Rodney assured him.

John looked to the faces staring back at him before he nodded and began heading off.

"Where are you going, Colonel Sheppard?" Mr. Woolsey asked, calling after him.

"I'm going to go plan a rescue operation to get my family back."

/

Ronon walked into Rodney's lab where he and Zalenka were working busily at their respective computer terminals. It had been almost a day since Layna had been taken and still they were no closer to finding her. John was practically jumping out of his skin to get out of the city and through the gate to find her.

"I don't think we can keep Sheppard from losing it much longer," Ronon said as he hopped up on one of the tables. "Please tell me you guys have something."

Zalenka looked up from his work. "We have something," he declared.

Ronon looked hopeful for the first time in twenty-four hours.

Rodney stood from his seat and paced throughout the room. "How, you ask, did the Asgard find Atlantis again when this isn't even the planet that we were on when they came the last time?"

"Yeah," Ronon growled as he rolled his eyes.

"The answer, my overly muscled friend was quite obvious once you got right down to it. In fact I can't believe we didn't think of it sooner."

Ronon cut him off. Now wasn't the time for one of Rodney's ego rants. "Get to the point soon or I'm going to let Sheppard in here to strangle you again."

"It's the suits," Zalenka offered.

Rodney nodded. "Yes, the Asgard exoskeleton suits that Doctor Jackson and I were wearing when we were rescued. They've been in my lab ever since and I've been meaning to study them but I hadn't gotten around to it yet. Zalenka and I have put all our attention on them since this latest attack and we found something. The suits have homing beacons built into them that can be activated from across an entire galaxy. The Asgard must have figured out we had them and remotely activated the beacons. That's how they found us."

"Well, mystery solved then. We know how they found us. How does that help us find Layna."

Zalenka took that question. "Well the beacon has a very unique signal. We think we might be able to reverse engineer it to tell us where the transmission is going. Wherever that leads us has to be where they are holding Layna."

"And you're sure that you can track the signal?" Ronon asked.

"It will take some time," began Zalenka, nodding. "But yes."

"That sounds like as good as we're going to get," Ronon said standing and heading out of the lab. "I'll go give the news to Sheppard."

/

/

Layna awoke to an unfamiliar room, in a bed that was not her own. It took her only a moment to realize that it wasn't actually a bed, but a cot laid out on a raised metal slab. She tried to get up and found that she was unable. She was being held down by some unseen force. The only part of her body she could move freely was her head.

She turned and looked around the room she was in. It was large, definitely not one of any that would be found on Atlantis. There was technology displayed here that she had never seen before, more advanced than what John and his people had brought to Pegasus and it didn't look Ancient. And the being she saw in the room with her was also one she had never encountered.

"Who are you?" she asked him. She wasn't sure it was a him, only a guess. "Why am I here?"

He turned to her from his station and tilted his head curiously in her direction. She studied him as he studied her. He was stark naked, but it didn't seem to matter because he possessed no discernable external genitalia whatsoever. He was short, only about two-thirds her own height, with elongated extremities. And his head was a bit over-sized for his small frame, with large penetrating black orbs for eyes. One thing was sure, he was definitely neither human nor Wraith.

"You are here because we need you," he answered her, his voice shrill.

"You kidnapped me from my city," she corrected.

"It has been our way to take what we need."

"That's not a very good way to make friends," she said, knowing it was exactly the way that John would retort in her place. "You ever try asking?"

"No. What we want, we are sure you would not be willing to give freely."

With his words she was filled with the greatest sense of dread. Her mouth went dry and a cold shiver went down her spine. She swallowed the lump in her throat before she asked her next question. She was not looking forward to the answer. "And what is it that you want?"

He looked at her as if the answer were clear and simple. And in her heart she knew, she'd known before she'd even asked the question. She knew why they had brought her here. She knew what they wanted. And they would have to kill her before she let them take it from her.

Even still his answer made her blood run cold.

"The child," he said simply.

/

/

"This is perfect," John said as he sat across the dinner table from Layna. "Just what we needed," he said raising his glass of wine in solute.

"It truly has been a hectic few weeks," Layna answered in agreement, taking a satisfying sip of her own glass.

"Try year," he argued with a raised eyebrow.

The entire year since returning to the Pegasus galaxy had been a whirlwind. In just that short amount of time he'd found and fallen in love with Layna, the Wraith war had reached a climax, and he'd found out that he was going to be a father only to have a pregnant Layna kidnapped by the Asgard, and then after finally having rescued Layna they had only had a moment to breathe before the baby had come. This was the first time the couple had time to take a calm moment for themselves.

"Very true. In a way it makes these calmer moments even more special." She gazed lovingly across the table at him. "I cherish these times when it is just you and me."

"Me too…." his response trailed off, his brow furrowing in confusion.

Layna saw the expression on his face and grew worried. "What's wrong?" she asked him.

"Déjà vu," he answered, looking around at his surroundings. It was all so familiar, so much like the last time. It was the same room, same placement of candles, same wine in their hands, the same conversation. The only difference was the company.

"What?"

"I've had this conversation before…."

"We've never had this conversation before," Layna told him simply.

"Not with you," he said leaning across the table towards her. "With Teyla. It was while she was still being held by Michael. But it wasn't real."

"John, I have no idea what you're talking about. It's just us, can't we enjoy it?" she pleaded.

He stared across the short distance to her, into those eyes of hers that always took his breath away. Slowly he reached across the table to take her free hand into his own. He took in her beauty, the feel of her skin against his, the rhythmic sounds of her breathing, and marveled that she was his, that in all the randomness of the universe they had found each other and she had chosen him as he had chosen her. After searching and searching, he had finally gotten her safely back from the clutches of the Asgard. She was there with him, and that was all that mattered now. Smiling wickedly across the table at her he shook off the odd feeling that had swept over him and brought himself back to the present.

"So we're alone, huh?" he asked.

She nodded, the corners of her mouth curling up into a mischievous smile. "Yes." And just as the word passed her lips the sounds of a fussing baby interrupted them.

"Not quite alone," John said smiling across the table at her.

"Never completely alone," she smiled back at him as she continued to sip at her wine. "It's your turn," she said, unmoving.

He shook his head playfully. "Nope, I went last time."

"You liar. You did not. And I'm not budging until I've finished every last drop of this wine that Mr. Woolsey so generously gave us as a baby gift."

The sounds of the baby in the next room morphed from mere fussing to a full out cry and John couldn't bear to hear his child's cries, so he gave in. "Fine, you win," he said standing from the table. "But you owe me. It's definitely your turn," he parted with as he headed off to the other room and the waiting baby.

"All right, kid," he said as he walked into the bedroom and made his way to the baby's basinet. "Daddy's here." It was the first time he'd called himself that out loud. It felt strange and yet oddly right. He was a dad now. There had been times when he never thought he would be.

He noticed that the sounds of the baby's cries were growing louder and louder the nearer he drew to the basinet. "I'm coming," he said as he lifted the protective netting. But inside he found no baby, and the crying only grew louder. The sounds of his child's cries taunted him in surround sound as he searched the room frantically for the baby, but he found nothing and no one. And then he heard her call him from the other room.

"John." It was Layna's voice, unstartled and barely above a whisper and yet he could hear it clearly even through the wailing screams of the unfound baby, drawing him back into the room from which he had come. The moment he entered the crying ceased and the entire room was pitched into an eerie quiet. He looked to the table in search of Layna and found that she was no longer sitting there. Instead, in her place sat Teyla, a knowing smirk on her face.

"Teyla?" he began cautiously, beyond confused by everything happening around him now. "Where's Layna?"

The sound that escaped her lips was one that he had never heard from the woman in the entire time he'd known her. It was a wickedly cruel laugh, and it made his skin crawl. "She is long gone," she answered, smiling and taking a sip at Layna's wine.

"No," he said shaking his head. "She was just here. And the baby, the baby was crying."

Her eyes stayed on him as she set the wine back down on the table. "There is no baby, John."

"What?"

"There is no baby. The Asgard took Layna. You never brought her back. Your child was never born here on Atlantis. You didn't save them."

Her words were deliberate and harsh, each one of them a dagger to his heart. Teyla would never be so cruel, to him or anyone else. It just wasn't in her nature. Nothing about any of this was right.

"That's ridiculous," he said. "I remember saving her."

"Do you?" she asked pointedly.

As he stared at her he realized suddenly that he did not. Everything that had been clear to him just a moment before was now all a complete blank. It was as though she had pulled the memories right out of his head with her words. He could not remember saving Layna from the Asgard. He could not remember the birth of their baby. Even the name and sex of his child escaped him. How could he not remember whether he had a son or a daughter when just moments ago he had been so sure?

The sudden hole in his memories was now mirrored by the hole in his heart. He felt empty. His body ached with a longing he had never before felt. "No," he breathed, shaking his head as if the action alone would make the memories return to him. More than anything he wanted them back. He wanted what Teyla had said to be wrong, and for Layna and the baby to be back with him. He needed it all to be real. But he knew now that it was not.

He looked to Teyla, his hopes and dreams shattered in the distance between them. She stared at him silently, her very presence there mocking him. He had been able to rescue her years ago when she had been taken by Michael. He had fought with everything he had to bring her and Torren back to the city safely. He had been able to save a woman and child that were not his to save, and yet when it came to saving his own family he could not.

Teyla's words echoed in his head. "You didn't save them."

He had failed them.

/

"John, wake up." He opened his eyes to find himself in the cockpit of one of the puddle-jumpers sitting behind the controls and Teyla shaking him awake. He blinked the sleep out of his eyes and started to rub the kink out of his neck. He avoided eye contact with the woman as much as possible, the wicked laugh of the facsimile of her from his dreams still echoing through his head. It would be hard to ever forget it, he was sure.

"What happened?" he asked.

"You dosed off a little while ago. We thought you could use the rest. But you were hurting yourself."

The man had barely slept a wink in the last forty-eight hours. He had been too busy trying to find a way to track the Asgard. They had all been busy with the task. Bringing Layna back was their top priority now. Nothing would stop them until she was once again safely in Atlantis.

John had drifted off while readying the jumper. As soon as they knew where to go they would waste no time in getting there. Even so, when the team had found him, they had let him sleep. They knew he needed it. But as he slept, they could tell he was not in the restful slumber that they had hoped he would be. He cried out, he thrashed, he gripped the arms of the chair he slept in so tightly that his knuckles turned white and his nails bled. Finally, when they could take no more, they decided to wake him.

As Teyla looked to her friend now she knew that the sleep had not had the desired effect on him. He was tense. He could barely even look at her. Instead he looked everywhere else. He looked around the cabin to where Rodney was working on one of the crystal data panels and Ronon was busy loading gear into the storage compartments, both stealing guilty glances at him while they continued their tasks. Finally, his eyes settled on his hands and he saw what Teyla had spoken of. His bloodied fingers said it all.

"Have we made any progress?" he asked her, deflecting the attention and wiping the blood away on his tactical pants.

"Zalenka and I are still triangulating the location the signal that's coming from the suits are transmitting to," Rodney called from the other compartment. "A few more hours and we should have it."

"Lorne and I have packed the jumpers with all the gear and ammo we'll need," Ronon informed. "We'll be ready to go when we need to."

"We need to go now," John said. "We needed to go two days ago." He turned back to the task he had been on before he'd drifted off and began the pre-flight procedures for the jumper. The cabin was awkwardly silent but for the sounds of the beeping of the controls and the scraping of the equipment containers across the deck.

"We're doing everything we can, John," Teyla tried to comfort him.

"Then why doesn't it feel like enough?" he asked, his eyes fixed on the jumper screen in front of him. "She's out there, and I'm just sitting here, waiting, helpless to save her."

"The John Sheppard I know would never say that. You are not helpless. You're a fighter. And we are all behind you. We will fight with you to bring her back. We will not give up. We will find her."

He turned to her then and saw no trace of the woman from his dream, but his friend. He saw the woman that had stood by his side his entire time in Pegasus and was grateful. "How do you know that?" he asked her.

"When Michael had me, I knew that you were out there looking for me. I knew that you would not stop until you found me. And just as I knew then, Layna knows now. She knows that we are looking for her. She knows that we will not stop until we find her. And John, we will find her," Teyla told him.

For a moment her words sparked some hope in him. Then he flashed on what the Teyla in his dreams had told him and that hope started to waver again. But she was right. He would fight. He would never give up. He just wished he knew which Teyla to believe.


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

The General Hammond dropped the two teams off as close to the coordinates of the Asgard ship as possible and they took two cloaked jumpers the rest of the way. Sheppard was piloting the one in lead with his team onboard, Major Lorne and his team were in the other. Stealth was key here. The Asgard had superior weapons and defense capabilities. If this rescue mission was to have any chance of succeeding they would have to infiltrate the ship without the Asgard knowing they were there at all.

John parked his jumper as close as he could to what Rodney had designated as the hanger bay of the Asgard ship. The team all turned in their seats in the forward compartment of the jumper and stared expectantly at Rodney. "Time to suit up, Rodney," Ronon said.

There was only one way to get onboard that ship. It was the same way the Asgard had found them in the first place. The same way Atlantis had been able to find the ship out here in turn. With the Asgard suits they had commandeered last year during the Atero rescue operation.

"I was really hoping I would never have to wear that thing again," he whimpered as he turned to the rear compartment of the jumper and stared ominously at the waiting suit.

"Rodney," John called for his attention. Rodney turned back to the man. "Get in the suit," he ordered, but it sounded more like a threat than an order.

"I'm getting in the suit," he said, reluctantly standing and walking to the rear compartment of the jumper. Cautiously, he reached out to activate the suit. As it opened up he moved to step inside of it, the protective metal closing around him. He turned back to his team. "We're only going to get one shot at this," he said through his active com as he gathered his equipment.

"Then we better get it right," Ronon grumbled as Sheppard engaged the lock without another word and the doors between the compartments began to close. Rodney watched the doors seal, praying silently that his latest brilliant plan would work and not end up being his last.

Rodney moved slowly and uncomfortably to the rear hatch. He overrode the controls on the bulkhead and released the locking mechanism. "Wish me luck. I hope this bright idea of mine works," he offered. The airlock opened, the rear compartment depressurizing instantly as the outer hatch opened. Everything that wasn't strapped down and secured was sucked out of the jumper, including Rodney as he disengaged the magnetic lock on the boots of the Asgard suit.

He was pulled out into the vacuum of space. He fired up the maneuvering thrusters that he and Zalenka had discovered the suits had built into them and slowly guided himself to the Asgard ship. When he was close enough to the hull he reengaged the magnetic locks on the suit and slowly drifted towards the ship. He breathed a sigh of relief as he was once again on a solid mass, this time safely moored to the large Asgard vessel.

"Rodney," came Teyla's voice in his earpiece. "What is your status?"

He looked down the length of the ship and discovered that he was several meters away from his intended target. Piloting was not one of his strengths and the maneuvering thrusters of the Asgard suit had proved quite as difficult to handle as the controls on the puddle jumpers had been for him at first. After several years of practice piloting those Ancient pods he had only become a moderately proficient back-up pilot. It was no surprise that the same would be true of the suits.

"I made it to the ship," he reported. "But I overshot the landing. It will take me a minute to get to the controls. Standby," he said ending the transmission.

Walking across the outer hull of a spaceship also proved difficult for Rodney. Painstakingly slowly he walked the hull of the Asgard ship until he came to the outer hatch of the hanger bay. Once there he found the interface to the controls for the door. It took him some time to bypass the sensors. Their plan depending on the Asgard not knowing they were there, the teams needed as much time as they could buy themselves to search for Layna. Bypassing the sensors from the hangar bay door to the control room of the ship would hopefully keep the Asgard unaware of their presence.

After several minutes at the control panel and triple checking his work, he was satisfied that the hatch he was working on was completely isolated from the rest of the ship and that any Asgard monitoring would not be able to see what would be happening in the next few minutes. Lastly, he read for any life signs within the hangar-bay and the surrounding areas within the ship. As far as he could tell, it was all clear.

"Sheppard," he said reactivating his com. "Come in."

"Yeah, Rodney."

"I'm about to release the hangar doors. We need to make this as quick as possible. I don't know how long this will fool the Asgard."

"Acknowledged. Major Lorne and I are standing by."

Rodney moved back to the controls. "Okay. Lowering the doors, now," he said as he disengaged the locks and the doors began to slowly open.

When there was enough clearance, Sheppard and Lorne maneuvered their jumpers into the hangar-bay. "We're all clear, Rodney," came Sheppard's voice over his com after several heart-stopping, adrenaline-rushing seconds.

"Acknowledged," Rodney answered, breathing a bit easier as he began his slow walk over the hull of the ship and into the hangar. Safely inside he moved to the control panel just inside the doors and reengaged the locks. The seal on the hatch closed and the hangar-bay re-pressurized. Rodney pulled off the helmet to the suit and breathed a sigh of relief now that the whole ordeal was over with.

The jumpers decloaked and the hatches to both slowly lowered. The two teams marched out, armed to the teeth, as Rodney rid himself of that dreadful suit. Ronon walked over to him and handed him his pack along with a sidearm. He took both, holstering the weapon and digging into his pack for his tablet.

John Sheppard marched down the ramp from his jumper with determination on his face. He would find Layna on this ship and bring her home, or he would die trying. It was a promise he had made to himself on the journey. Nothing would stop him from saving his family. He turned to his men. They were behind him one hundred percent. They wouldn't give up until they found Layna either. She was one of them and they didn't leave their people behind.

"Rodney," John called to the man as he had his head buried in his tablet. "You getting anything?" he asked. "That thing you're playing with giving you any idea where they have Layna?"

"No. I'm getting several life sign readings onboard, but they don't distinguish between human and Asgard. The frequency of our tracking chips is programmed into the tablet and the ancient scanners can make the distinction so we will be able to tell where we are in relationship to the Asgard. But they must have disabled Layna's chip. I can't pinpoint her location."

"Anything that looks like a holding area, or maybe something that might be heavily guarded?" Major Lorne asked.

"Or a laboratory?" Teyla asked. "Dr. Jackson mentioned that these Asgard were not opposed to experimenting on the people they have taken in order to try and cure their own reproductive issues."

"I can't tell anything from these schematics," Rodney confessed. He looked up helplessly to Sheppard, the apology written in his eyes.

Colonel Sheppard nodded his head, turning to address his people. "All right, there are nine decks on this ship, we split into three teams. Lorne, you, Michaels and Ayala search the top three decks. Teyla, you Rodney and Perkins take the bottom three decks. Jefferies, you're with Ronon and me. We will search what's left." He handed both Major Lorne and Teyla Ancient scanning devices for their teams' use. "I want updates every thirty minutes. Leave no stone unturned, clear everything, room by room, deck by deck. Stealth is our best weapon here people. We do not engage the Asgard unless it is absolutely necessary. Clear?" Everyone nodded their accent. "Move out."

/

They were making their way through the bowels of the ship. Teyla was covering their front, Perkins their rear as Rodney guided their movements from the middle with the assistance of his tablet. They had checked in with Colonel Sheppard just a few minutes ago. They had yet to come across any Asgard forces, being sure to keep as far away from groupings of life signs his tablet displayed on their route, but they hadn't come any closer to finding Layna yet either.

And they hadn't come across any evidence that she was really even on that ship in the first place. But she had to be there somewhere. This was where the suits' homing beacon had led them. If the Asgard weren't keeping her here then their chances of finding her were far worse than they thought. And if they didn't find her there was no telling what would become of John Sheppard. So she had to be on that ship. She just had to be.

Teyla stopped their advancement down the corridor all of a sudden. "What is it?" Perkins asked.

"Someone's coming," she told them.

Rodney consulted his tablet again but saw no life signs approaching their position. "I'm not getting anything here," he voiced.

Teyla signaled to Perkins and they moved off down the corridor. Rodney, his head buried in his tablet, still saw no one approaching his position. He became so busy studying his tablet, in fact, that he didn't notice the two of them head off without him. In no time they disappeared around the corner. Even as he studied the small screen in front of him seeing no indication of what Teyla had voiced, he had to admit to himself that Teyla had her way of knowing things and people that Rodney hadn't been able to understand in the entire time that he'd known her. But her spidey senses were always right, so he trusted her, sometimes even more than his precious tablet.

Even still he said, "But there's no one coming," this time as he finally looked up and then saw that his team members were no longer with him. He looked back down to his tablet, not seeing either Perkins or Teyla represented there either. "Okay, this obviously isn't working," he muttered frustrated and dropped the useless tablet to his side. He looked down the now empty corridor, worry creeping into his conscious at the idea of being left utterly alone on a ship full of Asgard.

He decided to turn his attention back to his tablet to busy his mind. He tried to figure out what was wrong with it. He still saw no one approaching his position. His tablet was not accurately displaying life signs. But it looked as if the layout of the ship that he possessed was somewhat accurate. And after careful scrutiny of the schematics he was reviewing he noticed something. Not far from his position there was an auxiliary chamber. And if he was correct in his assumptions about the Asgard systems, there would be a control console there by which he could fully access the ships systems. If he could get to it and hack it, he might be able to get accurate life sign scans, and then maybe pinpoint where they were holding Layna.

He activated his com. "Teyla, come in."

He was answered by only static. Something was interfering with their coms as well. Maybe it was the same thing that was screwing with his tablet, showing him things that were not there, or rather not showing him things that were there. He looked down the corridor off in the direction Teyla and Perkins had disappeared down. He knew that he should try and catch up with them somehow, or at least wait there for them to come back looking for him. But the opportunity this might afford them in their search efforts was too good to wait on. Besides, Teyla had sensed someone headed this way. He didn't want to be there when whomever it was finally got there. He'd been a captive of the Asgard once before himself and he wasn't too keen on reliving the experience. It wasn't very far from his position to the auxiliary chamber and he felt he owed it to John and to Layna to try this. After a short deliberation in his head, he decided to go.

Following the schematic on his tablet he found the auxiliary unit in a matter of minutes. Plugging into their console he hacked his way passed the Asgard encryption algorithms and began to access the information he was after.

/

John was leading his team cautiously down the dark corridor of the Asgard vessel. They had been on the Asgard ship for over an hour now, searching. The other teams had checked in as scheduled. None of them had heard or seen any signs of Layna yet. John and his team made sure to avoid any run-ins with the Asgard onboard the ship. Utilizing the Ancient scanner, they made frequent detours around on-coming life signs.

Until they found Layna, stealth was of the utmost importance. They needed time to search for her, and they wouldn't get that if they engaged the Asgard. But, putting the Colonel aside, John the man wanted desperately to engage them. They had breached the sanctum of Atlantis, attacked his home and taken his family. He wanted his wife back but a part of him also wanted blood. He wanted to hurt the Asgard. Because by taking Layna they had hurt him more than anyone or anything ever had before. And if they had done anything at all to hurt Layna or the baby he would make sure that they felt a lot of hurt.

These Asgard were far different from those that the SGC had aligned themselves with years ago, the ones who had given humanity their technology as their living legacy. The Asgard that they had called their friends had been a people who looked out for and protected those that could not protect themselves.

But these Asgard took from others and they did it only for their own gain. They abducted humans and conducted experiments on unwilling subjects in order to prolong their own lives. They were no better than the Wraith. And in his book that made them the enemy. They were not his friends. And when it came down to it, he would show them what he was capable of doing to his enemies.

His team cleared another corridor full of chambers and came up empty again. John was frustrated but undeterred in his quest. He consulted the ancient scanning device again and found a surprise. There were life signs approaching their position from both sides. His team had no means of retreat. They were expecting company. He might get his fight after all.

/

Teyla and Sergeant Perkins returned to the junction where they had last seen Rodney and were not surprised to find that he was not there waiting for them. "Rodney," Teyla tried raising him on his com again. "Rodney, respond." There was no response to her hails. "Damn it Rodney," Teyla said cursing him under her breath. She signaled to Perkins and they resumed their search, this time adding Rodney McKay to the list of their missing.

/

Rodney made his way down the dark corridor following the highlighted route on his tablet. With the information he'd been able to download from the Asgard system he was hopeful that he was now on the right track. This was the path that would lead him to Layna. The only problem now would be the Asgard in his way.

He had tried to hail the other two teams on his com again but was unsuccessful. It would seem the Asgard systems were wreaking havoc on all of their Earth tech. He hoped that their weapons would at least work when or if they were needed. It was bad enough their weapons were inferior to the Asgard's. The least they could do was work as advertised. Regardless, he held his pistol extended out in front of him, safety off. It made him feel better, anyway.

He heard Layna before he actually saw her. She sounded as if she were in a great deal of pain. The Asgard were either hurting her or….. He thought back on it and dreaded where his thoughts took him. He'd heard those kinds of sounds before. It had been more than two years ago when Teyla had been in labor with Torren. Though it was nearly impossible, he instinctively knew what he would find up ahead.

Layna, though still only five months pregnant, sounded as if she were in labor. That's just what this rescue mission needed. Why did all the pregnant women of Atlantis have to go and get kidnapped all the time? And why was it becoming such a habit of his to be the one to always find them?

Rodney made his way toward the sounds of her pained grunting. He was completely unaware of what he would be walking into, so he prepared for the worse. Stashing his tablet in his pack and checking the clip in his gun, he took a deep breath and continued on into the unknown.

He rounded the corner and quickly turned back to duck behind the cover of the nearest wall, hoping beyond hope that the Asgard sentry that was guarding the door hadn't seen him. He had only seen one in the hall but there might be more nearby or even in the room with Layna. He wouldn't be able to take more than one or two of them out on his own. He didn't know what to do but knew that he had to do something to draw them away from Layna. He headed off down the corridor back in the direction he'd come from.

He was looking desperately for some kind of diversion. A considerable distance away from where they were holding Layna he came to a conduit that he thought might serve his purposes. Luckily for him he knew his way around the Asgard systems since they were similar to some of the components installed into the Daedalus and the Hammond. He hacked his way to the power module to the section of the ship that he was in and planted a nice little surprise for the Asgard, set it on a timer and synced it to his tablet. Then he made his way back to Layna.

By the time he returned to his position outside of the room where Layna was being held, the timer on his tablet had counted down to eighteen seconds. He waited patiently for it to hit zero. And once it did all the power in that section shut off and the corridor was left shrouded in utter darkness. He heard movement headed his way and tucked himself into a dark corner, holding his breath as three unsuited Asgard passed by him, headed toward the conduit he had disabled. When they were clear of the corridor, Rodney restarted the timer on the tablet. He was guesstimating but when the appropriate amount of time passed by Rodney triggered the device he had jerry-rigged and shoved into the conduit.

It was a small explosion, only loud enough to draw the attention of anyone nearby and maybe stun anyone in close proximity, but just enough to clear the rest of the Asgard out of Rodney's path to Layna. Two more Asgard passed by Rodney to investigate the noise and when they were gone he was able to make his way to the now unguarded room.

As Rodney emerged through the threshold of the chamber the first thing he saw was Layna spread out on a medical cot at the center of the large room. Her arms were strapped down on either side of her and she was clearly in distress. He didn't know how it was possible but her belly was now fully extended, her pregnancy advanced somehow from five months to full-term in just three days, and from the looks of it she had been in labor for quite some time. The stress of being kidnapped and held prisoner was a good way to force a woman into labor. And that was definitely the case here.

Layna saw Rodney standing there and motioned to the far end of the room. Rodney's eyes followed where she'd indicated and found a lone Asgard who had remained behind in the room after his friends had been drawn away. The Asgard's back was to the door and Rodney had a split second to decide whether to shoot the unarmed alien or let him live. It was a very hard decision. He had never taken a life before. And out of the suits, the Asgard were just so damned disarming, so vulnerable and innocent-looking. Rodney had a difficult time seeing the tiny being across the room as a real threat.

"Don't move," Rodney ordered the Asgard, who at the command turned slowly from the console he was at to face the man pointing his pistol at him.

"You are the one responsible for the lights, and all the commotion," the Asgard stated, his large black orbs penetrating, even in the dimness of the room.

"And you're one of the ones responsible for attacking my city and taking my friend. What were you doing to her?" Rodney asked.

"I was merely ensuring that the birth of the child go smoothly."

"Is that why Layna's strapped to the bed? Does that help the birthing process?"

"No. That ensures that she does not try to escape, or put the child in danger."

Rodney kept his gun trained on the Asgard as he moved to Layna's side. He looked down for a split second to figure out how to release her from her restraints. "Look out," Layna warned just as Rodney had released the strap on her left arm.

Rodney turned back in time to see the Asgard lifting some kind of weapon, and in a split-second reaction, Rodney fired his, and the Asgard went down. Rodney stared down at the tiny, lifeless body in disbelief.

The sound of the gun echoed through the room. "Oh my God, I shot him," Rodney cried out, running his trembling hands through his hair. "I really shot him." He was stunned by the action he had just been forced to take. "Why don't we have stunners? Oh God I really wish we had stunners," he said clenching his eyes shut and cradling his head in his hands, his pistol falling to the deck with a clatter. He decided then and there what his next project would be when they returned to Atlantis. He would study the Zats from the SGC along with Ronon's weapon and the stunners they had collected from the Wraith over the years and use them to design and create a standard stunner for all expedition teams. He would never fire that damned pistol again if he had anything to do with it.

"Don't worry about him, Rodney. His friends will just clone him again and he'll be good as new," Layna said to reassure him as she reached over with her free hand to release herself from the remaining restraint. It was an effort; the pregnancy and labor were taking its toll on her. "Now please get me off of this bed."

Rodney lifted his head out of his palms to look at Layna. He let what she told him sink in. After a few moments of it rattling through his brain, he decided that he could live with that idea. He had fired at the Asgard in self-defense after all. And like Layna said, the Asgard wasn't really dead, at least not for long anyway.

He moved to Layna and helped her off of the cot as quickly as he could. It was all she could do to get out of that medical bed. Rodney was in the process of helping her when she grabbed his hand in a vice grip and doubled over in pain as a contraction hit her. After it subsided, Layna began to shimmy herself across the room to the door as if the contraction had been nothing at all.

"Hold on a minute Layna," Rodney said stopping her. "You're in no condition to walk out of here."

"Rodney, any minute, those other Asgard could come back here. I'm getting out of this room, whether you help me or not. I will not let them have this baby."

Rodney looked at her, seeing the determination in her eyes. "All right," he said. He grabbed his pistol off of the floor where it had landed and stuck it in the waistband of his pants. Then he moved again to help Layna, wrapping one of her arms around his shoulder and supporting most of her weight. They headed to the door. "Let's get out of here then."

/

John clutched the Ancient reader in his left hand, his P90 primed and ready in his right. The seconds ticked by as the red dots on the screen drew nearer and nearer to the blue on the screen. The Asgard were almost on top of them. He watched holding his breath, ready to take fire, as the red dots were just around the corner from their position in the hall.

His finger was poised over the trigger when all of a sudden a blast from another part of the ship saved them. Rocking the vessel, it drew the Asgard forces away from their position. John remembered to breathe once again as the red dots on the scanner were moved far enough away from the blue ones for his team to proceed in their search.

He tried the coms but was unsuccessful. Whatever had caused that blast, he was sure one of the other teams were responsible for it. But there were several questions left up in the air. Were they safe? Had they found Layna? Were the Asgard now made aware of the Atlantis teams' presence here on the ship?

They pressed on, clearing first one and then another level of the Asgard ship. Every time they were in danger of running into a red dot, they took a detour or hid. They attempted several times to contact their other teams, but there was something interfering with their coms. All they could do was to continue on their own.

John breathed a sigh of relief as three new blue dots appeared on the screen of his scanner headed toward their position. One of his teams were making their way back to them. It meant that they had cleared their sections already. He prayed Layna was with them. But as Major Lorne and his team rounded the corner he realized his prayers would not be answered. His team had returned to him empty handed.

"Colonel," began Lorne once he came face to face with his commanding officer. "We tried hailing you sir, but we seem to be having a problem with our coms."

"Yeah," John agreed. "We noticed that too. Something's been interfering with them for the last hour or so. We haven't had any luck in our search. We've had to make several detours to avoid the Asgard."

"We cleared all our sections. No signs of Layna, sir. I'm sorry."

"Yeah, me too. Hopefully Rodney and Teyla are having better luck. Help us finish our search of this section."

/

Teyla and Sergeant Perkins were almost done clearing their first level when the explosion rocked the ship. They could tell that it was an internal blast originating not far from their position by the intensity of the vibrations beneath their feet.

"That can't be good," said Perkins.

"No," Teyla agreed. "We should continue," she added, heading in the opposite direction of the blast.

"Are you sure you want to go that way. Dr. McKay could have caused that blast," he suggested.

"There are many Asgard on this level. No doubt they will also be heading to investigate the source of the explosion. And knowing Rodney, he probably caused it to draw them there. We should continue this way. That is the best chance, for Rodney and for Layna."

/

"Owww!" Layna cried out. They were stopped in the middle of a corridor far enough away from the room that had been Layna's prison to feel safe in the assumption that the Asgard were not nearby. "Okay, I need to stop now," Layna panted, out of breath and in pain.

Rodney looked around. They couldn't just stay in the corridor, out in the open where any Asgard could just happen by. There was a room just a few meters further. If he could get her there then they could hide there while she rested and maybe he would have some time to come up with a more solid plan of finding their people and getting the hell out of there. He half carried and half dragged her there. It was a small room, windowless and half-filled with cargo containers, but there was clearing enough for Layna to lie down and it would suit their immediate needs.

Once he had Layna settled he activated his com and tried contacting the others again. "Teyla, this is Rodney, come in." He waited but there was still no reply. "Sheppard, this is Rodney, please come in," he said hoping that maybe the other team might hear his hail. But again he received no answer.

"Where is he?" Layna cried out at the sound of John's name before another contraction overtook her. "Is he okay?" she asked.

"He's here, of course, somewhere on the ship searching for you. Physically he was fine the last time I saw him. But when they took you…." he trailed off a bit. He looked at her pointedly. "He kind of lost it, Layna. And now that I've found you I can't tell him because the damned coms are down," he bellowed banging his palm against the nearest bulkhead.

"Rodney, I need you to calm down," Layna said in the calmest voice she could muster, even though all she wanted to do was cry out at the top of her lungs in pain. She went against the oddest of urges to strangle the man in front of her as she took a deep breath and let the pain pass.

"I'm calm, I'm calm," he chanted.

"Okay good. Because I'm going to need you to deliver this baby," she informed him between bursts of pain.

"What?" he screeched, his anger at the communication glitch instantly replaced with severe trepidation.

"You heard me!" she exclaimed.

The panic in his voice was not helping her feel any better about the situation they found themselves in. Of all the people to have found her, it had to be Rodney, the man most likely of them all to run away from any conflict. She loved Rodney dearly, but she wished more than anything that Ronon had found her instead, if it was too much to ask that John be by her side. But the two of them would have to make the best of it. Rodney had handled himself well enough before with that Asgard. Even if afterward he had been on the cusp of a mental breakdown. But she shook that last thought off. He was who she had with her now and he was better than no one at all.

"This baby is coming now and you're the only option," she told him.

Rodney sighed. "Why does this keep happening to me," he cried out. Not long enough ago for him, he had been in the same situation with Teyla when she was in labor with Torren. He still hadn't gotten over the ordeal.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't aware this was happening to you, Rodney," she grunted in pain.

"All right, all right. I can do this. I can do this."

"Yes, you can. Now shut up and help get this baby out of me."

"Okay," he said, coming to the floor to kneel in front of her.

"You've done this before, Rodney, so you know what to do. Just cradle her as she comes out."

"Yeah, believe me I haven't forgotten the last time. I will never get over that horror."

"Rodney!"

"Right, sorry. I'm ready. Is it coming?"

"Yes!"

"Well then push. Isn't that what you should be doing?" he squeaked.

"When the next contraction comes that's exactly what I'll do."

"Oh, right. Wait, you said her. You know it's a girl? I thought you and Sheppard wanted to be surprised?"

"We did. The Asgard ruined that for me, though. They told me it's a girl. Now look and tell me if you see her head," she told him.

He looked up at her sharply. "What? You want me to…"

"Yes."

His eyes darted quickly to her legs and then back to her eyes just as quickly. "I don't think John would like that. Or Jennifer," he added. "In fact, I think they would both kill me."

"Jennifer is a doctor and will understand. I, however, _**will**_ kill you Rodney, if you don't man up and do what needs doing. And John will absolutely kill you if you let his daughter fall to the cold, hard floor because you were too squeamish to catch her."

He thought about that for a second, and had to agree with her on all counts. "You're right," he answered and then he looked as quickly as humanly possible before his eyes shot back up to meet hers again. "Yes," he confirmed. "I can see a head."

She let out a loud expletive as another contraction came on. "Rodney, now," she said.

Rodney moved, ready to get the baby. Layna began to push.

"All right, I have her head," Rodney informed. "What now?"

"We wait for another contraction, and I push until it's over."

"Sounds like a plan."

"Just focus on not dropping my daughter."

"Geez," he said shaking his head. "You know, you drop one baby, and it follows you around forever."

In spite of the pain, Layna couldn't help but to laugh at Rodney. John was right. Rodney was always good for that. And then the pain came when the next contraction hit and she began pushing again.

"Okay, her shoulders are clear."

"Good, we're almost done, Rodney." She looked down at him. He was sweating and shaking, looking on the edge of a nervous breakdown again. It was almost comical given the circumstances. She would have sworn that he looked worse than she did at the moment.

"Okay, we're in the home stretch Rodney."

"One more push and John's a father," he mused.

"Yes."

"I never thought I'd see that. You think he's ready?" Rodney asked.

She smiled down the length of her body at him. "It's a little late to change our minds about it now Rodney, don't you think? Besides, no one's ready to be a parent. But you get there. And John, he already loves this baby more than anything. He tracked us down across the galaxy to save us. He's out there fighting for us right now. He will always fight to protect her. That's all we can do, right?"

"Yeah, I guess that's…"

He was cut off by another of her wails as another contraction hit.

"Rodney!"

"Yeah, I'm on it. I have her. Just push." She was doing it. "She's coming. She's coming."

The baby finally cleared and Rodney had her cradled in his hands. She was very tiny. He didn't remember Torren being that small when he came out of the oven but this hadn't been the average pregnancy. The baby let out a loud cry and Layna smiled brightly at the sound.

"It's definitely a girl!" Rodney confirmed.

"John just knew she would be a girl. He secretly wanted a daughter more than anything I think," Layna said.

"He's got his wish," Rodney said as he carefully shrugged out of his jacket while holding the brand new little girl and gently wrapped it around the small baby. He pulled the knife from his belt to cut the umbilical cord. He looked briefly at Layna. "I'm sorry. I know John's supposed to be the one to do this, but…." he said as he began to cut the cord. Finishing the job, he moved to hand the baby girl over to her mother. "Somebody is really eager to meet her mother," he said.

Layna took the baby into her arms and looked down at the tiny life she had helped create and bring into the world. And with that tiny life in her hands everything came flooding back to her. All the answers she had been searching for the last year and a half were now clear. She knew who she was and who she had been before being discovered on that planet. More importantly she knew who this child was. She saw it all unfolding before her and as she looked into her daughter's eyes, the greatness she saw in her future was overwhelming. She saw her daughter's path. She saw what would come, for all of them. And she was conflicted about it all.

Rodney was basking in his triumph and the miracle of it all when he noticed the blood. There was a great deal of it starting to pool around Layna. He was sure that it wasn't normal.

"Layna, something's wrong," he informed.

She didn't respond. She just sat there staring at the baby in her arms.

"Layna!" he cried, panic setting in. "I don't know what to do. Layna!"

Slowly, as if in some sort of trance, she turned her head from the baby and looked to Rodney. And she smiled at him. It was the oddest thing. He was panicking and she was losing a great deal of blood, but she looked completely tranquil.

"Rodney, I need you to listen to me," she started calmly.

"Yeah, tell me what I need to do. Tell me how to stop this."

"Rodney, I need you to take her. I'm getting too weak to hold her."

"Take her? No, no I need to stop the bleeding somehow," he said.

Layna shook her head sadly. "Rodney, you can't stop it. You need to take her, get her out of here. She's important. Find John. Tell him…." She started to drift off. Her arms grew slack and she started to lose the baby. Rodney quickly reached over and took the baby from her arms.

"Layna! Layna!" he called out.

Her eyes were starting to glaze over. She didn't have much time left, she knew. She had to explain as much as possible. It was important that Rodney find John, important that they all got the baby off of this ship. She shook the clouds out of her eyes and looked to him. "She's…. hope," was all she managed to get out.

"Layna, stay with me!" With the baby securely in his right arm he reached over and shook Layna. "You have to stay with me."

"Tell John…. I'm sorry….. I'll find my way to him again…."

She was fading fast and Rodney was lost as to how to help her. He wasn't a medical doctor. He had no training in this. He wished desperately that Jennifer were here. She would know what to do. She would fix whatever was wrong. She wouldn't sit by helplessly as she watched the life of one of her friends slowly fade away.

"Rodney, you have to go," Layna urged.

"I'm not leaving without you."

"It's no use…. I've seen what's coming Rodney….. I'm not making it off this ship. So go, and save her….." Every word seemed to be a struggle for her. "You must save her….."

And then she slipped away. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head. She was still, her chest no longer rising and falling with her breathing. She was gone. The baby he held in his hands had lost her mother just as she had finally met her. John was somewhere on the ship fighting to save them both, with no idea that his wife was lost forever. Rodney knew that this would all but destroy John. If the roles were reversed and the same had happened to Jennifer, he knew he would be.

With her dying breath, Layna had wished for the safety of her daughter. The least he could do now was save her. He could bring John his daughter. He had to at least do that. He rummaged through his pack looking for the blanket he kept packed in there. He found it and gently draped it over Layna's body. He knew that it was pitifully little, but that was the best he could do for her for now. Maybe they might be able to come back and retrieve her body later. If they could take her back to Atlantis it might at least give John some closure.

Rodney began gathering his things with one hand, carefully holding the small precious bundle in his other. He secured the pack on his back and slowly, with the heaviest of hearts, stood to leave the chamber. He was halfway out the door when his attention was drawn back to the body. He'd heard a noise he couldn't place. It gave him hope that he was wrong, that Layna wasn't dead after all.

He began moving back towards her when he saw something that he could not believe. A light started to emanate from her, more than one. Thousands of tiny little orbs began to form and then slowly swirl around Layna's body. They continued like that for a few seconds, hovering just centimeters above her, and then they started to ascend. And suddenly Rodney knew what he was witnessing. Layna was ascending. She had somehow discovered the most coveted secret of the Ancients.


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

"We're pinned down here," Sheppard said as he reloaded the mag on his P90. Ronon and Major Lorne and the rest of his team were flanking him, providing cover fire, but they were not making any dents in their adversaries. They were definitely outgunned up against these new Asgard. They had lost contact with Rodney and Teyla and Perkins a while ago. Their coms were on the frits. This rescue mission had gone all to hell. They still had no idea where the Asgard were holding Layna and it didn't look like they were getting any closer to finding her.

They still had no idea why the Asgard had come to Atlantis and taken her away in the first place. Maybe Teyla had been right and they had taken her to study human reproduction in action to see if they could figure out a way of reversing their own issues in that area. If that was the case there was no telling what kinds of things they were subjecting Layna and the baby to.

Or maybe it had something to do with where Layna came from, wherever that was. Maybe the Asgard were the reason she had been on that planet where she had been found in the first place. But still, the real question was why?

John realized that he had no answers. But it didn't matter, as long as he found Layna. He would move heaven and earth to find her and he would never stop until he knew she was safe, until they were both safe. Both Layna and their baby. He prayed that they were both all right, that whatever the Asgard wanted from her, she wasn't being harmed. He would wage an entire war with them if his family were harmed.

As they continued to exchange weapons fire, all he could do was hope that Rodney and the others were faring better than they were. That maybe they had found Layna and she was making her way back to him as he fought off the remaining Asgard. His mind was reeling as he thought about her. The Asgard had gone to great lengths to kidnap a pregnant woman. It was Teyla all over again, and yet this was even worse. He only hoped this situation ended as well as that one had two years ago. He had fought endlessly to rescue his friend from Michael's clutches. But now it was his family that had been taken. He would fight to his last breath to save them. He could not fail them.

Ronon tapped John's shoulder and drew his attention down the hall behind the Asgard. It was where they had been trying to get through to for the last few minutes. The team that they had been out of contact with was now closing in behind the Asgard forces. He watched as Teyla and Perkins set up to take them out from their new position. It was exactly what they needed and Teyla couldn't have found them at a better time. Within seconds, the Asgard that had been blocking them were disabled and no longer a threat, and they were finally free to continue their search for Layna.

Teyla and Perkins moved down the corridor towards their position. John noticed that Rodney was nowhere to be found. "What happened?" John asked.

"We lost Rodney," Teyla answered. "We became separated quite a while ago. We've been searching the ship for both he and Layna ever since, but we haven't had any luck. I'm sorry John."

He looked up and down each passageway. His men were all behind him. They wouldn't give up. They would keep going as long as it took to find Layna and now Rodney. They left no one behind.

He tried his com again. "Rodney, where the hell are you?" he hissed over the open line. He was answered by only static again. "Damn it." He turned back to his men. "We keep looking," John said. "Pack and reload," he ordered.

They all did as ordered and within seconds were ready to continue on. They moved in small teams, clearing each corridor and each chamber they came to. Teyla and Ronon were with John, each flanking him. Teyla approached John on his right. "This is about where we lost track of Rodney," she told him when she recognized the junction they were coming to. "We were looking for an access point for their systems when I sensed someone nearing our position. Perkins and I tried to avoid the Asgard thinking that Rodney was right behind us. By the time we realized he wasn't and made it back here, he was gone."

John inwardly cursed the pain in his ass that was Rodney McKay as he signaled to the other teams to spread out and search and they all moved off. Leave it to Rodney to make a difficult rescue mission that much more complicated. John and his team continued forward, Major Lorne and his team took the rear, staying behind the lead team a few meters.

They were coming up on another junction when John thought he heard something. He signaled for the others to stop and they took up positions. He signaled for Lorne and the others to look for another route and they moved off. John and his team turned to face the oncoming threat. Something or someone was headed toward them. It was coming up the corridor they had been heading down. They all braced themselves.

A few seconds later John recognized the butt of a pistol protrude through the darkness in front of them. It was one of their service pistols, and holding it was a pale hand, a human hand. The teams lowered their weapons as Rodney slowly came toward them. He was walking sideways, his back against the bulkhead providing him some cover against enemy fire, his arm extending the gun outward for protection the way John had trained him. Slowly, as he came out of the shadows, they could all make out that he was carrying something protectively in his other arm, clutching it like a football.

Rodney lowered his weapon as he saw his friends. Teyla and Ronon were ahead of John and were able to make out what Rodney carried in his arms before he could. Slowly, the two parted and John had a clear view. A tiny, pink, scrabbling baby was clutched in Rodney's arm, wrapped in an Atlantis jacket. "A girl," Rodney informed them all.

John stared at the baby in the other man's arms. That was the first sight John had of his daughter. She was here. He didn't know how but she had arrived and she looked perfect and healthy. His heart swelled with so much joy at the sight of that tiny bundle. But then he noticed that it was just the two of them. Just Rodney alone, holding the baby. Layna was not with them.

John tore his eyes away from the baby and looked up into Rodney's.

"Layna?" he breathed, the question lingering heavily in the air.

The look in Rodney's eyes told him everything he needed to know. Layna was gone. His life as he knew it had changed forever. His blood boiled over with pure hate. Hate for the Asgard who had taken her away from him. And hate for himself for not being able to protect her. That had been his most important responsibility, as her husband, as her partner, to protect her and keep her safe. And he had failed.

The other teams were making their way back toward their position, weapons fire from the oncoming Asgard chasing after them. Major Lorne approached John's side. "Colonel, the Asgard are closing in on our position. We have to move."

John did nothing to acknowledge the man had spoken. He made no move as a blast from one of the Asgard weapons came within inches of his head and landed on the bulkhead just behind him. The rest of the teams turned to return fire. John stood there immobile, the rage building and building within him. But along with the rage also came the pain, a great immeasurable pain.

"Sir," Lorne called out above the blasts of weapons fire coming from both sides. "We can't hold this position long."

With all the chaos unfolding around him, the world slowed down for John Sheppard. Nothing made sense anymore. Three months ago on that Wraith Hive he'd thought he was about to lose everything. And today he actually had. Layna had become everything to him. And just like all those months ago, he wasn't going to live without her in his life. He knew then what he felt now, he was nothing without her.

What had been the point? Seven years ago why had he sat in that damned chair on the Antarctic base station? Why had he come to Atlantis? Why did the Ancient tech respond to him so much better than others? Why had he survived through so much hell in the Pegasus galaxy where others had not? Why had he been drawn to her on that damned deserted planet? Why had she been brought into his life only for her to be taken away from him so quickly?

It was Teyla who grabbed him and drew his attention to her. She stared him straight in the eye. "John, we have to go," she said calmly. And it was that calmness of her voice, in the midst of all that chaos and confusion that actually got through to him.

He looked from Teyla to the little girl Rodney held in his hands. His little girl. Layna's little girl. Maybe she was the point of it all? Everything that had led him down his path had helped to produce her. Take away any one event of the past seven years of his life here in the Pegasus galaxy and she might not exist at all. Had fate or whatever cosmic force there was out there conspired all these years all so that this little girl was brought into the world? He had to believe that there was a reason.

Every atom in his body screamed at him to go after the Asgard. To slaughter every last one of them for what they had taken from him. But looking at that little baby, he knew he couldn't do that. His job now was to protect her. To keep her safe. He had failed Layna in that. He would not fail their daughter. He had to do everything in his power to get the baby off of that ship. And going through those Asgard was not going to help him do that.

So slowly he gathered himself, pulled back the rage just enough to let sense and reason take control. "Fall back," he ordered his men. "Rodney, find us a way out of here. Ronon, keep him covered."

Rodney handed his pistol over to Ronon who began firing with both weapons at the oncoming Asgard. Rodney dug into his pack and pulled out his tablet and started working. He pulled up the schematic of the Asgard ship he had hacked their systems to find and used to find Layna. As he read it, his heart sank. They were decks away from where they had left the jumper they'd boarded on. Between them and it stood dozens and dozens of Asgard that they would have to go through. They would never make it. They'd have to find another way off the ship.

"Rodney," Ronon growled, kneeling beside him, shielding Rodney and the baby as he returned fire with the Asgard.

"Yeah, I'm trying. Give me a second to figure something out."

"We don't exactly have a second," Major Lorne informed.

Rodney scanned the schematic as quickly as he could, dedicating it to memory. He thought he found an alternate route. It would take that much longer, but as of now it was their only option.

"All right," he started determinedly. "Come on," he said, heading off on the route he had plotted in his mind.

Ronon was right behind him. Major Lorne and his team took up their flank while Teyla and John returned more weapons fire with the Asgard, trying to hold them off as long as possible. The rest of the team was almost out of sight when Teyla looked over to John. "John, we have to go, now."

"You go on. I'll cover you and hold them back a little longer."

She looked at him and read something in his eyes that she didn't like.

She shook her head. "No. We go together."

"Teyla!" he yelled, his frustration growing. He didn't have time to argue with her.

She would not give in. She knew what would happen if she went on without him. That was not how she was going to let his story end. Not if she had anything to say about it. "No John. You don't have to die here. You cannot die here. You have to survive now, for your daughter. Now come on!"

It was all she could do to drag him away, but she finally managed it and they caught up with the others. Rodney was leading them through a complicated maze, winding through one corridor after another. They found a lift a few minutes later and took it to the lower decks. It was all a very roundabout way of getting back to their jumper but Rodney assured them that it was their best option. And with the exception of Sheppard, they all wanted to avoid running into anymore Asgard at all costs.

They reached another junction and Rodney stopped suddenly.

"What now Rodney," Ronon asked.

Rodney consulted his tablet again. The baby in his other arm hadn't made a sound since crying out just after her birth. She was perfectly content, even with the chaos unfolding around her. Rodney, however, was not. He had lost track of where they were and needed to consult the schematic again. He didn't like what he saw on the screen when he did.

"Oh no," he breathed.

"I don't like that sound, Rodney," John said.

"You're not going to like this either."

"What?" Ronon grunted.

"They're everywhere. They found the jumper. There's no way we can get to it now."

"So….," Major Lorne started.

"Yeah," Rodney cut him off. "We have no way off this ship."

"And the news just keeps getting better and better," Ronon said.

Rodney looked to the tablet again. The red dots showing the positions of all the Asgard on the ship were moving closer and closer to the blue dots, them. "And they're closing in on us. Surrounding us on all sides," Rodney informed.

Lorne looked to Ronon. "You just had to say it, right," he said. Ronon rolled his eyes.

"Rodney," John called out. "Get behind me with her. Lorne, you and Michaels take the east corridor. Teyla and Jefferies, take the south. Ronon and Ayala, take the west. Perkins and I will hold them off on the north."

They all took up their assigned positions. Shoulder to shoulder, they stood surrounding Rodney and the baby at their center. Rodney kneeled down between them all and looked frantically at the tablet, searching for some kind of escape for them, but all he could see were the blinking red dots drawing closer and closer to them. The only way out would be through them, he realized.

And then the shooting started. The Asgard were there. John, Ronon, Teyla and the others were holding their own against the superior Asgard forces. But they wouldn't be able to keep it up for very long. And Rodney wondered what would happen then. What would happen when the shooting stopped? To what end would the Asgard go? What had been the point of all this? What did they want? What had all of this been for?

Suddenly, energy blasts and bullets soaring around him, he realized he was holding the answer to his question in his hands. The baby, little Hope. They wanted her. They had done all this, attacked Atlantis and taken Layna and advanced her pregnancy, all to get the child. Layna had said that the baby was important. Had she meant to them or was it bigger than even that?

Rodney watched as Lieutenant Jefferies took a blast in the leg. Teyla, at his side, covered him and kept firing, holding her corridor just a bit longer. Some of the Asgard went down, even with their shielding, but still more came. The Atlantis teams were far outnumbered. Eventually their hold would fail.

And then Rodney heard the strange noise over the weapons fire. It was the same sound he had heard after Layna had passed. He stood up in the middle of all the madness to see the same light he had seen emanate earlier from Layna's body. The firing stopped as everyone else saw it too. It slowly started to form around them. Lorne and his men raised their weapons to fire at it, believing it to be a threat.

"No," Rodney warned. "Wait."

They hesitated, and slowly the light started to swirl around them. They realized, as it did this, that the Asgard weapons could not pass the barrier it had created around them. As it swirled around them it created a sort of force-field, protecting them. The energy began moving faster and faster around them, becoming brighter and brighter. And just as it reached a point where it was almost too bright for them to look at, the energy shot out in a sort of shockwave, away from them in every direction, taking out everything in its path. They all stared in astonishment at the now immobile Asgard forces, their path off the ship no longer blocked.

"Rodney," John said turning to him. "What the hell was that?"

"It's a long story. I'll tell you about it later," the other man said as he began moving away from them, headed toward the jumper. He turned back. "Right now I think we need to keep moving. They might just be stunned and we don't know how long they'll be down. But for now," he said briefly consulting his tablet, "the way to the jumper has been cleared."

Sheppard looked around at his men. Sergeant Ayala was helping Lieutenant Jefferies to his feet after tying a tourniquet to his injured leg. Ronon was bleeding from a glance of the Asgard's weapons to his shoulder. The others were checking the Asgard that were closest to their position. Whatever that shockwave had been it had completely disabled all the Asgard. Through the suits they couldn't tell if they were all dead or not, but it didn't look like they were going to be in any position to stop the two Atlantis teams from leaving the ship.

John looked back to Rodney, and as he did he saw a tiny hand stretch out from the jacketed bundle tucked into the bend in the man's left arm. "Lead the way," John responded.

/

/

The two puddle jumpers each broke through the event horizon one by one, entering the gateroom and then ascending up into the jumper-bay. Sheppard was at the helm of his, Ronon with him in the forward compartment as he docked the jumper. Teyla was secured in the back with Rodney and the baby. John powered down the ship and released the rear hatch.

John was the last to exit their jumper. He stood on the ramp and watched as Major Lorne and Sergeants Michaels and Perkins were packing up gear. Ayala was prepping Jefferies for transport. Rodney sat in the far right corner cradling the baby, looking more and more comfortable as he did. A moment later a medical team rushed into the bay and made their way to them.

They loaded Lieutenant Jefferies onto a gurney and began to transport him to medical to treat his wounds. Ronon was headed with them to get his arm checked out. John stood on the jumper ramp looking out at the scene before him. His team, his friends, they were all moving about with purpose. They all knew what they were doing, what their next move was.

He no longer had that. He no longer knew what was next for him.

"Rodney," he called. Rodney looked up to him. "Take the baby to medical. Get her checked out, please."

"Aren't you coming?" he asked.

"I'll catch up with you. I'm going to gear down first. Give Woolsey a quick debrief."

Rodney looked at him for a moment before nodding his head and then heading off to medical with the baby. Everyone else began clearing out of the jumper-bay as well. Teyla started towards the gear room but turned back when she realized John was not following. She looked to him, concern in her eyes. He unsnapped his weapon from his vest and handed it off to her. "Would you secure this for me?" he asked.

She took it. "And you?" she asked, wondering what he was going to do.

"I just need a minute," he told her.

"John, I…." she began, not knowing exactly what to say to comfort him. He was beyond any comfort she could offer him, she knew. But she was his friend. She wanted to do something. She needed to do something for him, anything.

"It's all right, Teyla. I'll be there in a minute. I promise. I won't do anything stupid."

She stared across the distance at him, unmoving.

"Would you do me favor though and catch up with Rodney. Make sure he doesn't drop the kid," he offered her a small joke.

She couldn't help but to offer him in return a small, sad smile. This was something she could do for him. She could look after his daughter while he took some time to get his head together. So she gave in. She nodded solemnly and turned to go, and John was left alone.

As he stood there in the back of the jumper he had no desire to ever leave the confines of the jumper-bay. Because beyond those doors stood the unknown for him now. Beyond those doors stood a new reality he was not ready to face. A life without Layna. There in the jumper-bay he could pretend that nothing had changed. That the last week of his life had not happened. That Layna was safe in their quarters waiting for him to return from an ordinary mission.

He wished more than anything that that was true. But she wasn't there. Layna was gone and he was left with a baby daughter he had no idea how to raise alone. He never imagined that it would all end up this way.

Had it only been a year? He had known her for a total of fourteen months and he couldn't remember how he had survived all his life before then without her. And he couldn't figure out how he would again now that she was gone.

He left the jumper bay with no idea where he would go, his body on auto-pilot. He took in none of his surroundings, or the people he left behind to stare at him sadly as he walked. He arrived at his quarters unaware exactly how he got there. He took a step inside and the doors whooshed closed behind him.

He stood there staring at the quarters he had shared with Layna for so short a time. These were the quarters they had been preparing to share their lives on Atlantis in, to bring their daughter home to and raise her in for as long as they called Atlantis their home. This place was supposed to be a refuge, their own private sanctuary. Now it only reminded him of what he had lost, and of what would never be.

/

/

They had gotten back to Atlantis hours ago and still John had not found his way to Medical. Teyla found her eyes roaming to the entrance every few minutes, hoping to see him standing there. Dr. Beckett was finishing up surgery on Lieutenant Jefferies' leg. Everyone else had been checked out and cleared by Dr. Keller. But no one had left. They had all stayed behind to ensure that the newest addition to the Atlantis family was in good health.

They had all risked their lives to save the baby and her mother. In the end they had only been able to save one. They all had remorse in their hearts. In losing Layna they had lost a great friend, and an important member of their family. None of them would leave until they were assured that her daughter was safe.

The medical bay was crowded with soldiers and other staff as Dr. Keller examined the small baby. Colonel Sheppard's and Major Lorne's teams stood around the child protectively, as if in an instant she might be taken from them again. It seemed the entire city flocked to the medical wing at one point or another during the time that they were there, to get a glimpse of the baby, to ask after her health, to welcome her home. Everyone, that is, but the child's father.

Jennifer had given the baby a clean bill of health. Even with her early birth and small size she was perfectly healthy. There was an audible sound of relief from the entire room with the good news. And yet still no one left. They were all waiting. Waiting for John Sheppard to walk through the doors. But he never did.

Finally Teyla took the baby into her arms and left the medical bay, the eyes of the entire city on her as she did. She walked the halls of the city, one destination on her mind. She had left him in the jumper bay but she knew she would not find him there. She made her way to his quarters, the one place in the city he was sure to be alone to let his demons overtake him.

She had seen it in his eyes when she'd left him alone in that jumper bay. He was coming undone. In the span of a year he had gained everything and then lost that which he had gained. The life he had thought he was building was stripped away from him in an instant. In all the years she'd known him he had always kept his feelings close to his vest. But Layna had changed all that. With her presence on Atlantis, John had changed into a different man. And now that she was gone there was no telling what would become of him.

She arrived at his quarters and found that the lock had not been engaged. She walked in and found the room completely dark. She moved to the light switch on the wall and engaged them. What she saw when she did made her even more concerned for her friend than she already was. The room was completely trashed. He had destroyed the entire room. The only thing left standing in tact was the baby cradle that John and Layna had had the Daedalus deliver for them from Earth.

She found him sitting on the floor on the far side of the room. His back was to her as he sat up against the overturned bed. She navigated carefully through the debris, the baby securely in her arms as she did, and made her way to him. He was just sitting there, unmoving. He didn't even acknowledge her presence there. She kneeled in front of him.

"John?"

He looked up towards her as if he were coming out of a trance and saw that she was holding the baby.

"She check out okay?" he asked.

"Dr. Keller says she is in perfect health," she informed him.

"Good," he said, resting his head back against the bed at his back. "That's good."

"We waited for you to meet us in medical. When you did not I decided to come and find you. I figured I might find you here. I did not expect to find you in this manner, however," she said eyeing the destroyed room. His eyes followed the path hers had taken.

"Yeah, I decided to do a little redecorating."

The baby stirred in Teyla's arms. John's sight went to the tiny figure and he found he was unable to take his eyes off of her. Teyla eyed him and an idea came to her.

"It occurred to me that you have not yet held your daughter." She made a move to hand the child to him but he shook his head.

"No, I shouldn't," he said.

"She is your child. You are her father. She needs you and right now you need her very much as well. Take her."

She practically forced the baby into John's arms. He held the small bundle with great care. He had never held anything more important. This was a life he had created. This was his child. This was Layna's child. And now she was his greatest responsibility.

The baby stirred, moving her arms about. John reached out his free hand to caress her delicate skin. With her tiny hand she reached out and grabbed ahold of his finger. And when she opened her eyes and looked up at him it was all he could do to keep his composure. She had her mother's eyes. He could not tear his eyes away from the baby. She was the most incredible thing he had ever seen.

"Everyone is already quite taken with her," Teyla informed him. "It's a beautiful name, Hope."

"Hope?" he asked.

"Yes. Rodney said that is what Layna called her before…" she let the rest of the sentence trail off.

Silence fell in the room. "We hadn't really discussed names," John finally told her. "Hope, huh?" he said trying out the name, deciding that he liked it. Teyla nodded. "I think it suits her."

She watched him as he stared at the baby. Hope was what he needed now. She was his tether. She was the key to holding him together now. Teyla had known that. But now she knew something else as well. And she knew that she had to tell John. But she knew that telling him would change everything. She didn't want to tell him. She knew what knowing would lead him to do. It was the same thing she would do in his position. And she knew it would ultimately break him. But he had to know.

"There is something else Rodney said that I think you need to hear."

"What's that?"

"The Asgard. He believes their true target was Hope."

He turned to her, the fear of a father in his eyes. "Why would they want her?"

"I do not know. But there was something else."

"Something else?"

"He said that Layna did not die, exactly. Rodney believes that she ascended. That it was she who saved us from the Asgard in that junction."

And with that information the cogs in his mind began clicking into place. He tore his eyes away from the baby in his arms and looked up to Teyla. "Ascended?"

The silence that passed between them was deafening. Slowly, mindful of the precious cargo in his arms, he brought himself to his feet. Without another word he navigated his way to the door. She chased after him and caught up to him in the corridor as he made his way to the nearest transporter.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"Rodney and I need to have a chat."

/

/

It had been five days since their return to Atlantis. Five days since Rodney had told him everything he possibly could about what had happened on that Asgard ship. Five days that he'd had to let it all run through his mind, to piece it all together, to figure out what it all meant. Five days since they'd moved Atlantis to another location to prevent the Asgard from trying another kidnapping. So far there hadn't been another attempt to take Hope. But one day someone would come for her.

She had been in John's care since their return. He fed her, he changed her, he held her, he played with her, he cooed her to sleep. And in all that time she had never so much as let out a whimper of discontent. She never fussed, she never cried, she slept and fed on a regular schedule. It was as if she knew the heartbreaking circumstances under which she had entered the world and she was trying to lessen her father's burden by being the perfect baby. And to him she was.

And as far as Atlantis was concerned she was. She had already won over the entire city. Every time he left his quarters he was accosted by a member of the expedition who wanted nothing more than to hold her or fawn over how adorable and cuddly she was. But the most won over of all was her father.

From the moment he'd looked into her eyes he was a goner. He loved her more than he ever thought he could love another person. He'd thought the same about Layna, but his love for his daughter was different. If he hadn't had her to care for these last few days he was sure he would have lost himself in sorrow over losing Layna.

His daughter meant the world to him. She had saved him. She was what was holding him together. And he didn't know what he was going to do without her. But he was going to find out. Because he couldn't keep her, not on Atlantis, not in the Pegasus galaxy. She was not safe there. She would never be safe there.

Layna had said to Rodney that Hope was important. She was important enough to the Asgard that they had taken Layna before she had given birth. Whatever they had wanted her for then had been stopped by Atlantis' rescue operation. But he was sure that that was not the end. Others would come for her. Because if she was who he now began to suspect she was, then there would be no end to her pursuers. Everyone who knew would want to get their hands on her. Even his own people, particularly the IOA, were not an exception to that.

Hope's safety was of the utmost importance. He had to keep her safe. And right now that meant sending her away. Far, far away. Earth. That was the safest place he could think for her. An entire galaxy away from the Asgard, from the Wraith, and from him.

When Michael had been after Torren he had been relentless in his pursuit of the child. Only Teyla throwing him off of the highest tower in the city had stopped him. John was prepared to eliminate any threat to his daughter, but he knew it would be virtually impossible to fend off the entire galaxy. The best way to keep her safe was to get her as far away as possible. And he would do that, for her.

He would do anything for her. Even sacrifice his own soul, which is what he was doing by sending her away. From the moment he'd first held her in his arms, looked into her eyes, she had become his everything, his entire reason for being. And he would have to lose her in order to save her. And in losing her he would lose himself all over again.

/

/

/

"Unscheduled off-world activation," Chuck alerted from his console in the control room. Lt. Col. Sheppard walked up to stand behind him. It had been six weeks since he'd returned through the gate from Earth. Six weeks since he'd left Hope behind in the care of his brother David and his wife. Six weeks in which he hadn't slept more than an hour or two at a time. Six weeks in which he had walked about the city in an aimless fog. Six weeks without Hope or Layna, and it had left him only a shell of the man he had been with either of them in his life.

Chuck looked up to him a few seconds later with a confused expression on his face.

"What is it?" Sheppard asked.

"It can't be right," Chuck responded.

"Whose IDC is it?" Sheppard asked.

"It's Layna's IDC, sir."

Sheppard's eyes almost popped out of his head. His mouth ran dry, his heart sped up and his pulse pounded in his ears. He dared himself to hope for the impossible.

"Sir, what should I do?" Chuck asked.

"Lower the shield," he ordered before he started to make his way down to the gateroom.

The shield was lowered and a puddle jumper broke through the event horizon as he ordered he signaled some of his men to join him on his way to meet it. As he cleared the gateroom, Major Lorne and two of his men flanking him, Sheppard tried to make out who was in the cabin of the jumper but couldn't get a clear view. He signaled his men to be on the ready and they rounded the gateroom to the back of the jumper as the ramp was being lowered. Cautiously, they boarded.

The cabin was clear and they moved quickly into the control room. Behind the main console sat a dark-haired woman about the size and shape as Layna, and for the slightest second John allowed himself to hope that it was. He remembered what Rodney had told him about Layna's last words. She'd said that she would come back to him somehow. Was the impossible actually happening?

But then the woman turned slowly around in her chair to face him, and that dream went out the window. The woman was beautiful, a bit younger than he was, with long wavy auburn hair flowing down past her shoulders. Setting eyes on her for the first time he had the strange sense that he knew her somehow. She was a stranger with a very familiar face. She was wearing a mission uniform of the Atlantis teams and as he read the name stitched across her breast he lost his breath for the second time in as many minutes. The woman stood up, his men moved with her sudden movement and she raised her hands slowly to show that she was not a threat, her eyes never leaving John Sheppard's. Eyes that were the same unique shade of green as her mother's.

"Colonel Sheppard, it's been a long time," she said.

He just stared speechless at the name on her uniform.

Lt. Col. Hope Sheppard.

Hope had returned to Atlantis.


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

John took a deep steadying breath before he knocked on the door. This was it. This was the worst moment of his life. This would be his greatest challenge, his greatest battle. And it would be with himself. He'd regretted this moment ever since he'd made the decision to come here. But this was something that he had to do. He had to do it for Hope.

The door opened and he came face to face with his younger brother David. Their relationship had been strained in the past, but since their father's death a few years ago they had taken steps toward becoming closer. When Layna had visited with him during their wedding trip she had also helped them a long way towards that goal.

"John," he said, surprise evident in his voice. "What are you doing here?"

"I need your help," John answered.

David looked him over. He saw the dark spots under his brother's eyes, the gauntness of his face. He looked over the clothes that no longer fit him properly because he had lost a few pounds since he'd seen him last. The drastic change in John's appearance was quite shocking. He had been so happy when he'd left with Layna two months ago. David had never seen that side of his brother before.

"What is it? What happened to you? Where's Layna?"

John shook his head without answering. And then he looked down to the ground at his left. David's eyes followed the path of his brother's until he saw it. Resting at John's feet was a car seat with a tiny baby dressed in pink strapped sleepily in its protective casing.

"It's a long story David," John said answering. "Are you going to make me tell it to you standing out here?"

David eyed his brother and then the baby once again before he shook his head. "No. Come in."

John lifted the sleeping Hope up and made his way into the house as David moved aside out of his way. They walked into the living room where John set Hope's car seat down on the coffee table before he began pacing back and forth in front of the sofa. David stood across from him just staring at him.

"When you left here two months ago Layna was barely showing. Can you explain to me how you could show up at my door today with a healthy newborn and no Layna in sight?" David asked him.

"Layna's gone, David," John told him.

"Gone? What does that mean John?"

John shook his head. He didn't have authorization to divulge anything about the Stargate program. He would have to go on half-truths and pray that his brother did what he was going to ask of him.

"I haven't been flying helicopters in Anarctica for the last seven years like you think. I was asked to join a highly classified military expedition. I can't tell you everything, but I can tell you enough. We explore places that not everyone knows about, very distant places. On one of our missions we found Layna. She was the last surviving member of her people, a very powerful and influential group. It turns out that she had skills that were very valuable to our expedition so she joined us."

John stopped his pacing and sat down. "And then you fell in love with her," David continued.

"I more than fell in love with her brother. But the pregnancy changed everything. Layna was no longer the last of her people. And her enemies came after her." He looked from his brother to the baby. "Now, my daughter, our daughter is the last. I need to keep her safe, David. My teams are fighting a war, and until it's over if the baby stays with me there will always be a threat to her." He looked up desperately to plead with his brother. "I need you to take her David."

"John, I…."

"Of course we will," came a voice from the entrance. Both men's heads swiveled to find David's wife Emily standing there. She moved into the room to take her husband's hand. They exchanged a look before she turned away from him. "She's family." She looked from the sleeping baby and up to her tortured father. "I promise we will take good care of her John." She could see in his eyes just how much this was hurting him. There was no way that she could say no. There was no way that she was going to let David say no to this. "For as long as is needed your daughter will have a home here," she promised John.

He nodded before he turned away from her gaze. He forced himself to look at Hope. He didn't know what the future had in store for her, or if at any point he would be able to be a part of it. This might be the last time he ever saw her. There was a very good chance that she would never know him. He was about to break his supreme code; never leave anyone behind.

He reached out his hand to caress the tiny cheek of his daughter. Baby Hope didn't even stir. He would give anything to look into her eyes just once more. But it wasn't in the cards. So instead he said his goodbyes. He kissed her forehead before he stood to leave. He knew that if he didn't leave now he would lose all his courage and change his mind about this decision to leave her safely on Earth.

Emily caught him at the door before he left. "John," she called to him. He turned around slowly in the threshold of the door to face her. "What's her name?" she asked him.

"Hope," he exhaled, just above a whisper. "Her name is Hope."

She looked him over, poised in the doorway. He was fighting an internal battle. Every fiber of his being urged him to run back into the other room and reclaim his child. His heart screamed at him to take her back with him to Atlantis. His head knew that was a selfish choice. This was what was best for Hope. As her father he had to give her her best chance, and right now, that was not with him. "I can see what a sacrifice this is for you, John," she said sadly.

"She means everything to me," he told her.

"We will love Hope and keep her safe for you, I promise."

"Thank you."

"And John." He paused once again before leaving. "You always have a home here too. When your war is over, when you know that she is safe, Hope will be here waiting for you."

He nodded before he fled. With every word Emily uttered his resolve waivered. He practically jogged to the SUV he had parked in the driveway. He sat in the driver's seat staring back at the house for over an hour. By the time he pulled the car off his hands were bruised and achy from banging on the steering wheel in frustration. And from the space between Layna looked on helplessly.

/

/

/

His men escorted her to the conference room and with a few glances exchanged here and there they were finally left alone in awkward silence. They sat down at the conference table across from one another.

"So," John started, not knowing where else to start. "Colonel, huh?"

That insignia on her uniform was the only thing that had kept him from dialing the gate back to Earth and contacting his brother to check on the baby from the moment he laid eyes on the woman. From what he remembered of the mission reports of SG-1, it was not unheard of for a being born of the Ascended to rapidly age. Adria had grown to maturity in a matter of days. He'd known what he was giving up when he'd left Earth. He'd known that he might miss her childhood, miss seeing her grow up. What he hadn't counted on was that she would do it all in the blink of an eye.

But the insignia she wore was assurance to him that that was not the case. This woman had lived a linear life. She had had a childhood, risen through the ranks of the Air Force. The woman sitting across the table from him was not that baby left behind on Earth. She was another version of his daughter Hope, from another reality or time. His baby was still back on Earth, still safe from his enemies and those who would harm her.

She nodded. "It's becoming the family business," she stated.

He couldn't help but to smile at that. He liked the idea that she had continued in his footsteps. Or rather that the daughter he'd held in his arms six weeks ago would or might someday. He shook his head with the paradoxical confusion. This was more Rodney's realm than his. If he thought too hard on it he knew his brain would hurt.

There was an awkward pause as he looked her over. Paradoxes weren't the only thing confusing him at the moment. As he looked across the room at her his mind began playing the cruelest of tricks on him. She looked so much like Layna, it was no wonder he had thought that it was she who had returned to him onboard that jumper.

The doors to the conference room opened suddenly and Rodney came barging in like he owned the place, as he usually did around Atlantis. "What the hell is that puddle jumper doing in the middle of my gateroom, Sheppard? One of your guys forget where he parked it?"

He had yet to notice the woman in the room with them during his rant. He only looked to her now as he noticed Sheppard's attention hadn't been deterred from his guest even after Rodney's obvious entrance. The woman gave him a curt nod of her head. "It's nice to see you looking so young again Uncle Rodney," she said.

"Uncle Rodney?" Rodney asked, looking to Sheppard. "Who the hell is this?" he asked pointing his thumb in her direction.

John Sheppard's eyes never left her. "Rodney, this is Hope," he said nodding across the conference table in her direction.

"Hope?" Rodney stared at him, the question and his confusion hanging in the air.

"Lt. Col. Hope Sheppard," John answered, formally introducing them. "My daughter."

Rodney looked from one to the other of them. And then he sighed in the way that only Rodney can. "Okay, what'd I miss?" he asked. "I feel like I definitely missed something."

"You should sit down for this," Hope said.

Slowly, warily, Rodney did as she asked.

"Okay just hold on a second," Rodney interrupted before anyone could even start. "Not to be a wet sock or anything and ruin this little family reunion but are you even sure she is who she says she is? I mean did you get any physical proof? Like a DNA scan or _**something**_?"

"Of course I did. Lorne is taking it to Keller to run as we speak. But Rodney, I don't need to wait for any tests to come back to know who she is," John said stopping him. "Just look at her."

They both turned to look the woman over. She had John's nose and chin but in spite of all that she was very much the spitting image of her mother. Especially her eyes, they were carbon copies of Layna's. One good look at her and there was no denying what her lineage was, that she was who she claimed to be. She was Hope Sheppard of Atlantis, the baby daughter he'd left on earth six weeks ago. And she had returned a full grown woman.

"I know who she is," John said. "I knew it the moment I laid eyes on her."

Rodney conceded. "Okay, well how in the hell did she get here then?"

"Well I'm betting if you ever manage to shut the hell up she'll be able to tell us."

Rodney was silenced as he was put in his place once again by John Sheppard. The men looked to Hope expectantly as she sat there smiling at them. She shook her head to clear it from the memories these two men bickering had conjured. Some things just never changed, and these men were not exceptions to that rule.

"As you are aware there are millions of parallel universes and alternate timelines. In one such timeline the Goa'uld System Lord Ba'al created a machine that tracked and calculated solar flares. With this device he could use the Stargates to transport himself to any time and place that he wanted. I borrowed his idea and created a similar device which I built into my jumper," she gestured to the doors leading back out into the gateroom, "and used it to bring myself here, to this time and place."

As she was wrapping up her story Rodney was practically jumping out of his seat. "The puddle-jumper out in the gateroom is a time machine?" he questioned. All the numbers and equations and the applications for such a device began running through his brain. Just the opportunity to study something of this magnitude was absolutely incredible and she had brought it to within his reach. He'd wanted to study a working time travel device ever since the Dr. Elizabeth Weir from the first Atlantis came out of the stasis chamber and told them of Janus' incredible invention. John saw where Rodney's mind was going as the man's eyes started to glaze over in reverie.

"Rodney," he said trying to get the other man's mind back on the present.

"Yeah?" Rodney answered absently.

"Bigger picture," he reminded him.

Rodney shook his head to clear it. "Right, right. You were saying," he said to Hope, now on the edge of his seat. He was eager to pick her brain for more information but he would have to wait for that opportunity later.

"Why did you come here, Hope? Why here, why now?" Sheppard asked.

She knew what he was really asking. If she could travel through time to alter the past, why hadn't she chosen to travel back far enough to prevent the death of her own mother? Why hadn't she chosen to travel even further and prevent the Atlantis expedition from awakening the Wraith in the first place? Of all the millions of points in time that she could have picked to travel to and alter why was this point in time the one that she had chosen?

"I chose this time carefully. This war with the Wraith, where I come from, it does not end well for Pegasus. I came back to stop it all before it begins, before everything unravels completely. If I had come at any point sooner or later, what I have planned would not work. I chose here and now because this is the turning point. I came back to save Pegasus, and in doing so we will save Earth and everything in between."

"And how the heck do you plan to do that?" Rodney asked dubiously.

She looked to him pointedly. "With the knowledge of the Ancients."

"We've been trying to unlock their secrets for years. Are you telling me that sometime in the near future we finally do?" Rodney asked.

"No. You do not."

"I don't understand. You said we need their knowledge to defeat the Wraith. How do we obtain what we've searched for for years in time now to do whatever it is you plan?"

Hope and John stared intensely, silently, at one another across the table. Rodney looked perplexedly from one to the other of them. Clearly they knew something he did not. "Someone please tell me what the hell is going on?" Rodney cried out.

John never took his eyes off of his daughter. "She has the knowledge of the Ancients Rodney. It's in her head."

Rodney shook his head. "No. We know that that's not possible. Our physiology is not advanced enough yet to handle that amount of data. When it was uploaded into General O'Neill's brain it took the intervention of the Asgard to keep his head from exploding. Even if you had the knowledge in your head, before it eventually killed you, you wouldn't be able to consciously use it."

"That is true," she said, nodding her agreement. "But my physiology is different from anything you've encountered so far."

Rodney was growing tired of the cryptic speeches and the looks passing back and forth. "Does someone want to clue me in here? I'm not used to being the only one in the room who doesn't understand what's going on." He turned to Sheppard. "That's usually your job. But you two seem to know something that I don't."

They were both silent again, staring, daring the other to speak first.

"She's an Ancient," John finally said, his eyes still never leaving Hope's face. He studied every inch of it, burning her into his brain. She was her mother's daughter, through and through, and in more ways than one. He had suspected all along that Layna was different. In the back of his mind, since finding her on that empty planet, he knew that there was something familiar about her. There had been a reason he had been drawn to her, why he had been the one to find her, why he couldn't get her out of his mind. He had felt that same way twice before, with two other Ancient women, Chaya Sar and Teer. But his experiences with them paled in comparison to what he shared with Layna.

After they had returned from the Asgard rescue mission and Rodney had told him what he'd observed with Layna, how she had ascended, the cogs in his head had started turning. He'd questioned it all. The only reasonable conclusion he could draw from it was that Layna had been an Ancient all along. And if she had been an Ancient, what did that mean for their daughter? It meant that she was unique, and important as her mother had said she was. It meant that the Asgard or the Wraith or whoever found out just how unique she actually was would never stop coming for her. So he had sent her away.

And now she was there, staring across the conference table at him.

Hope removed her gaze from the older Sheppard and turned to address Rodney. "Not quite. I'm a child of the Ancients. The last."

Realization finally dawned on him. "Layna," he breathed. Rodney let the information sink in, all the implications and ramifications running through his head. He turned to John sitting at his side. "You knew what she was?"

"I had my suspicions," John answered. "We all knew there was something different about Layna. We just could never put our fingers on it. But then there came the point where that didn't really matter anymore."

"You're like an ancient woman magnet," Rodney muttered after a beat.

"I think you may be exaggerating a bit," John retorted.

"Am I though?" Rodney said, his face indicating clearly that he was unconvinced.

John gave the other man a look that took whatever other smart remark he might have right out of his mouth. He turned to the woman sitting across the table. "You obviously have some sort of a plan for the Wraith. Something that will hopefully finally end all of this? What is it?" he asked Hope.

"I have to warn you it's not going to be easy. Even with my help the end is still a long way away. There are a lot of steps that are going to have to be completed. The first of which you're not going to like very much." She directed the last directly at John Sheppard.

John clasped his hands together on the conference table as he leaned forward, inching closer to her. "And why is that?" he asked.

"The plan requires an alliance of power and you have a certain… history with the intended allies."

"Don't tell me it's who I think it is," chimed in Rodney, regretting the prospect for everyone in the room.

There was only one other power within the galaxy with a strength great enough to help defend against the Wraith. Until recently they had been decidedly neutral. And then they had launched two separate assaults on the city of Atlantis, the last of which had taken the life of one of their very own.

"Yes. I'm sorry Colonel but you're going to have to make nice with the Asgard," Hope said, confirming their worst fears.

/

/

The fires burned bright and hot through the village as the Wraith cruiser touched down on the surface of the planet Castinus. As the bay doors to the vessel opened, the Wraith Commander known to the people of Atlantis as Charlie marched out of the craft surrounded by a small army of drones. As he and his entourage walked towards what remained of the village the cries of the human population dying slowly around him was music to his ears.

This was not the first planet that he and his men had visited as of late and it certainly would not be the last. He would not rest until they were all dead. The humans of this galaxy were all tainted, dirtied by Atlantis and ruined to Wraith forever. There was nothing left for them in this galaxy. They needed to be purged and it was his honor and his privilege to do it.

It had been several weeks since Colonel Sheppard and his team had managed to escape his custody onboard the Hive. His Queen had not been very happy with him at his failure. One of his men had paid for the disappointment with his life. But as her second, he had been given a second chance. As a way of getting himself back into her good graces his Queen had charged him with finding Atlantis and bringing her the key to Earth. He would not let her down again.

"Have you done what I asked?" he asked as one of his Lieutenants greeted him.

"Yes Commander, the elders have all been rounded up as ordered," answered the other with a respectful bow before he turned and began leading the way for his superior.

There wasn't much of the village left untouched by their advanced assault teams. In a matter of hours the entire settlement had been turned to complete ruin. The only thing they had left intact was a single stone structure where the humans they had spared were being kept. They quivered as he walked into the room, terrified of what would soon be in store for them.

"Which one of you is the leader?" he demanded.

No one moved to answer. Humans thought they were so brave, so defiant in the face of their superior adversary. But there were many different ways for him to get the answers that he wanted from them. And they all would bring him great pleasure and satisfaction while bringing the humans great pain and misery.

There was a woman cowering in a corner, trying to get as far away from he and his men as the confines of the room would allow. It was an exercise in futility if ever he'd seen one. He smiled as he moved to her, relishing the thrill of it all as he dragged her kicking and screaming in front of the others.

"You don't seem to understand," he said addressing the humans. "I will have my answers. One way or another. Though I do thank you for choosing to do this the fun way."

With the last he attached his hand to the woman's chest and began to slowly feed off of her. The terrified looks on the faces of the watching humans satisfied him almost as much as the feeding itself. The woman slumped to the floor at his feet, lifeless.

"All right. Now how about we try this again?" He looked from the terrified faces staring back at him to the lifeless woman on the floor and back again. "She obviously was not the leader among you. So tell me who is before I decide to feed again."

A few looks were exchanged among the humans before a man stood from the group. "I am Atares. It is my village and my people that you have devastated here today."

"You call this devastation. We call it a cleansing. You are no longer pure. And if you are not suitable for feeding, we no longer have any use for you."

Atares looked pointedly to the woman's corpse on the floor. "What is it that you want from me?"

"The attempts of the humans of this galaxy to ally against us with Atlantis is quite laughable. To think that you could contend with our power, the mere notion is ridiculous. But your friendship with Atlantis does afford us this rare opportunity. We know that you know the gate address of the city, and the security access code to deactivate their shield. I require this information and you will give it to me."

Atares shook his head. "No."

He rolled his eyes dully as he raised his feeding hand in intimidation. "Need we do this once more?" he asked.

"I cannot give you what I do not have," Atares argued. "Only the leaders of the ten have been trusted with the key to entrance into the city. Castinus does not have a seat on the Council. Congratulations. You've conquered my world but you will leave here without what you've come for."

The minds of some of these humans were strong, but not strong enough to resist his probing. He saw in the man's mind that Atares was telling the truth. The key to Atlantis was not with these people.

"Very well," he responded, bowing his head slightly. He registered slight relief in the eyes of Atares and his people before he turned to leave the hovel. "Kill them all," he ordered his men as he walked out of the doors and made his way back to his waiting cruiser. Their screams comforted him on his journey. There were always other planets. One of them would lead him to Atlantis. He would have his revenge. It was only a matter of time.

/

John Sheppard kept his eyes glued to the tabletop in front of him. It was all he could do to keep himself from jumping across the table and doing something he wouldn't regret but would certainly get him drawn up on military charges and sent straight back to Earth. Hope and Ronon sat to John's right, Rodney and Teyla to his left, as a delegation of five Asgard sat across from them. Mr. Woolsey, recently returned from Earth, stood at the head of the table in the city's conference room.

It had been three days since Hope had come through the gate. And in that time they'd had no choice but to reach out to the Asgard. Most of the plan that Hope had laid out for them depended on their cooperation. Rodney had been able to use the remaining Asgard exoskeleton suit to transmit a long-range broadcast signal extending the Asgard the invitation to the city for peace talks. John was understandably not happy about any of the events that were unfolding since Hope's arrival.

Her presence here was distracting to say the least. Every step he took through the halls was met with whispers from various members of the expedition. Everyone was talking about the new Colonel Sheppard visiting the city from the future. It was buzz-worthy news of course, but John was finding the scrutiny of it all very difficult to take.

For three days he had kept his distance from her. For those first few hours, going over the plan to change the future in that conference room, he could not take his eyes off of her. But the more he looked at her, the more he thought on it, and that was part of his problem. She was Hope Sheppard. She had his blood running through her veins. But she was not his daughter. She was not his Hope.

His Hope was on Earth, in the safe care of his brother where he'd left her six weeks ago. And now as he looked at the grown woman who had returned to his reality, he was reminded of that terrible choice he made to send his baby daughter away. And in his already tortured soul, he couldn't rectify the two. So purely for his own self-preservation, he began to keep his distance.

"Thank you for agreeing to meet with us," Woolsey began. "We understand that it is a concession you have not made in quite some time and we want you to know that it is greatly appreciated."

"The chance to rid us of the threat of the Wraith could not be passed up," the leader of the delegation voiced. He had introduced himself as Nall.

"On that point we are in agreement," Woolsey offered.

"Your methods of the past, however, we are not in agreement with," John hissed under his breath, the temptation to resort to anger too hard to resist.

Hope placed her hand over his on the table in an effort to stop him before he went too far, before his anger completely took over his self-composure. The contact of her skin on his was almost electric. He turned his attention from the Asgard and looked at her. He didn't know what it was exactly but a sense of calm started to wash over him. The anger he felt towards these Asgard began to ebb away. For a moment he missed it. The anger had been all that he'd had left to hold on to. But with Hope's hand on his, he knew that wasn't true anymore. Whatever happened, he had her now.

"Colonel Sheppard," Mr. Woolsey began, ready to stop a volatile situation before it even began. He hadn't thought having the Colonel sitting in on these talks was a good idea to begin with given his history with the Asgard. But he was the ranking military leader of the expedition and a key member of the senior staff. As such his presence was somewhat of a necessity in talks of this magnitude so there hadn't been much of a choice in the matter.

John waved off Mr. Woolsey before the man could continue. "But it's in the past," he started, trying to convey his newfound resolve to his people. "Even so, before we continue this, I just need to know one thing first." He paused briefly before he asked the question that had been rolling around in his head for the last two months. "Why did you take her?" he asked. He had to know for sure. What had they planned for Layna, for the baby she carried? What had he lost his wife for? What had he sent his child away to protect her from?

Nall exchanged a look with his party before he turned back to lock his dark orbs on John Sheppard once again. "We took her because we believed the child she carried was the child of the Ancient prophecies, the one destined to bring an end to the Wraith."

John had been hoping for answers, but all he got from the Asgard's answer was more confusion. "What are you talking about?" he asked.

But it was Teyla who gave him his answer. "The prophecy of the Ancestors," she breathed, remembering the stories from her childhood. Her team turned curiously to her.

"You know what he's talking about?" John asked her.

She nodded her head as she turned to stare back at her people. "It's a story that has been told over the ages, passed down from generation to generation, that one day the Ancestors would be reborn, once again bringing peace to our galaxy, ending the terror of the Wraith once and for all."

"Why are we just hearing about this now Teyla?" Rodney asked.

"It has been so long, many lands have even forgotten the true origin of the story as a prophecy. It has diminished so much that now it is told mostly as a bedtime story to our children. There are not many left who even still believe in the prophecy," she explained.

"Yes, we never believed the story either," began the Asgard Jaikal. "But news of your mission on the Wraith Hive ship several months ago spread across the galaxy. We heard how powerful the child was before even being born, and we remembered the story. We knew that it had to be the child told of, that the prophecy was true."

"So you kidnapped them?" John asked.

"That is our way," offered Nienun matter-of-factly. "It has always been our way. Taking the occasional being in order to help us toward our goal of self-preservation is how we have survived longer than our counterparts."

"Well, when you explain it like that, you sound no different from the Wraith," Ronon mumbled angrily across the table at them.

"Gentlemen," Hope said, breaking the tension in the air. "I feel we are getting away from topic." She looked to Mr. Woolsey and he nodded his thanks to her for diffusing the situation before he once again took the floor.

"Quite right," he began. "You're here so that we can join forces against our common enemy, not continue to fight amongst one another."

"You're suggesting some sort of alliance," the leader Nall said.

"Yes," Mr. Woolsey answered. "For our part, we've managed to cripple the Wraith to a certain extent in the past by turning them against each other. But now they are a united front. And you will no longer be able to hide in the shadows as you have in the past waiting for the carnage to end. Because the Wraith are now set on destroying everything in their path."

Hope sat up and leaned across the table, directing her attention to the Asgard delegation. "But as we stated in the message that brought you here, we have a way to stop them, to rid Pegasus of the threat they pose."

"We could do it on our own," Sheppard began. "But it stands a better chance if the entire galaxy is behind us. All the populated planets and the humans of Pegasus are represented in the Coalition. But you call this place home as well, and so you're the last holdouts."

"We had a plan for the Wraith once before as well," offered up Aitrik. "A plan that your people went to great lengths to destroy."

"Excuse me but the Atero device, which by the way you stole and then forced me under threat of death to activate, would not have only destroyed the Wraith but everything else in the galaxy along with them," cried Rodney.

"And how is that different from what you say the Wraith are doing to Pegasus now?" countered Aitrik smartly. There was nothing anyone in the room could say to that.

Mr. Woolsey cleared his throat. "Regardless, your participation in the alliance will require that you no longer experiment on any being from this or any other galaxy."

"Those terms are unacceptable," said Nall instantly.

The humans at the table all took in a deep breath. They all knew that this would not be easy. "In exchange for that concession we will provide you with the answers to your reproductive problem," offered Teyla.

The Asgard faces staring back at them were unchanged at the offer. "You are not capable of such a promise. We have been working for ten thousand years to solve this problem. You couldn't possibly be able to offer us any kind of feasible solution," said Nienun.

It was Aitrik who went on to state the obvious. "You lack the intellect."

Everyone in the room tried not to take that too personally. Everyone, that is, but Rodney McKay. He always took an assault on his intelligence harshly. It was what defined him the most. If he wasn't the smartest person in the room then he wasn't Rodney McKay. And with all the brilliant minds in the room with them now, it was clear how uncomfortable he was.

"Maybe they do," Hope conceded. "But I do not."

Soin studied her appreciatively. There was something different about her, even if he couldn't quite put his finger on it. She was not like the others. "Who are you?" he asked.

"A better question might be what," she answered. "With all the trouble you went through to try and procure me for your own selfish purposes, you should know who and what I am."

Nall seemed genuinely intrigued. "You are the child born six weeks ago?" he questioned.

She had thought this all through ahead of time, before she even stepped into her time machine. The future was safer for her and those she loved if certain truths were smudged in this time. John Sheppard had been right to fear for the safety of his baby daughter. The people who had pursued her all of her life to try and use her and exploit her abilities had been unending. There was no reason to believe that it would not be the same for the baby back on Earth.

But after coming here to this time, she had the unique opportunity to change all of that now. If she were to assume the identity of the Hope of this timeline in the eyes of those who would use her, then she could spare her younger self and her father from it all. She would take on all the responsibility and infamy here and now to give them a chance to live a normal life. If she fulfilled her destiny, there would be no need for any of her pursuers to know that there existed another Hope Sheppard in this timeline.

"Onboard your very ship," she confirmed, nodding her head. "After you took my mother and accelerated her pregnancy. I am the child of the Ancient prophecy. I am the last of the old and first of the new Alterans. And I can and will help you if you agree to this alliance and to our terms. I am your only chance."

There was silence in the room as they contemplated. She could tell that they were doubtful. They didn't believe that she was who she claimed to be. They needed proof. They needed a demonstration. Even a small show of her abilities would convince them.

Hope opened her mind to them. She projected her thoughts into all five Asgard minds simultaneously. 'You want proof,' she said to them and them alone. 'Here it is.' And she showed them everything. And she knew she had their agreement.


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

"So I see Atlantis has a few new guests," came Layna's voice from out of the darkness.

He turned and saw her standing there smiling back at him. It had been a week since Atlantis' meeting with the Asgard. Shortly after the events of that day, the new dreams of Layna had started.

He'd had the regular nightmares ever since first losing her. Every night he would see her calling out to him as she must have when she was being held by the Asgard and experimented on. She haunted him in those dreams where he relived his failure over and over again. But those dreams were never the same.

Sometimes he would dream that he made it to her on that Asgard ship only just in time to watch her slip away from him. He'd battle through the dozens of armed Asgard to the room where she'd holed up with Rodney and find her lying on the cold floor as she must have. He would move through the room to gather her in his arms and weep over her lifeless body. Other times he would dream that he'd never found her at all. He didn't know which dreams were worse.

But then suddenly after Hope's arrival a different type of dream had come to replace those haunting images. Here she was truly a sight for sore eyes. She had always taken his breath away when he looked at her. But when he saw her here, in this place, it was an entirely new experience.

It was so close to the real thing, as if when he reached out his hand to caress her cheek he would actually feel her skin against his once again. But every time he did reach out she would fade from his reality and he would wake to realize that it was not real. He soon realized not to even try anymore. It would have to be enough just to be with her again.

"I'm sure this hasn't been easy for you, hosting the Asgard," she said.

"No, it hasn't."

"But you have her with you now. You have Hope again."

"A different Hope, Layna."

"Is that the reason you've been keeping your distance from her?" she asked.

"I don't want to talk about that Layna. I come here to see you, because this is the only place where I can do that and feel almost whole again. I don't come here to psycho-analyze my actions in the real-world."

"Tell me what it is, John. Why are you avoiding our daughter?" she demanded.

"She is not our daughter," he cried out. "Our daughter is that innocent baby I held in my arms six weeks ago. She's the one I left behind on Earth. This woman here is not the same."

She cast the saddest of eyes on him. "Oh John, how you can be so wrong and so right at the same time. The Hope that you sent to Earth to protect and the one now sleeping in your old quarters on Atlantis, they are both the same person. I know that you can feel her. You're connected to her in the same way that you are to me. But you won't let yourself open up to her. What are you afraid of with her John?"

"Layna, please. Stop. Don't push this," he begged her.

She shook her head sadly at him. For weeks she had watched as he suffered. For weeks she had been helpless to comfort him. Hope arriving in the city had given her just that. She had seen the glimmer of hope in John for the first time when he'd set his eyes on their daughter. But that hope was short-lived and as she continued to watch them, her heart just broke more and more.

This was the punishment that had been handed down to her from the Others. She had interfered with the lower plane to save her family and friends on that Asgard ship and the price she paid for that act was to watch them suffer, now and forever, powerless to help. It was truly the worst punishment imaginable for her, to have all the power of Ascension and not be able to use it to help those that she loved, the ones who needed her help.

She understood now what her sister had felt for all those millennia. She understood now why Kala had done what she had. Her actions had managed to do the near impossible and change the mind of the strongest believer in the law and rule of the Others, her sister Chanis. Kala had set events into motion to create two great weapons for her cause. She had created belief where there had been none and she'd laid the foundation for Hope's birth.

Hope was their only way to circumvent the Others. She was a power equal to their own but of the human plane and therefore not bound by their laws. Hope coming to this time was the true game-changer. She had changed all the rules. Hope was doing all the things that had been long forbidden and the Others were not happy.

After weeks and weeks of trying, Layna had finally managed, in all the chaos happening in the space between, to bleed through the planes and to find John in this place. She visited him in his dreams because it was the only place where the Others could not keep her from him. Here was where she tried to do what she could not do in life.

She was sure he didn't know that it was the real her he was talking to here and she dared not tell him for fear that the Others might find out. She needed John almost as much as he needed her. Even if he only thought she was a part of his subconscious she needed to reach out to him, to try and help him to find peace. The first step toward that end was getting him to see Hope for who and what she truly was.

"I can't watch you do this, John. I know you're hurting but what you're doing is only going to make things worse. And I mean for you. You're afraid to let her in and lose her too, I know, but you need her, John. She is here for you. She came to save you."

"Yes. I already know that. She's here to help us save Pegasus," he said dismissively.

Layna shook her head. "No. Not Pegasus, John. You. She's here for you."

"What does that even mean?" he was growing frustrated. He did not come here for this.

"Hope was made to be extraordinary," she started but stopped almost as soon as she began. She was tempted to tell him everything she now knew but she sensed the Others were near. She had been here in this place far too long. There was only so much time she could steal with him before the risk became too great.

"I have to go now," Layna said to him.

"Go? No, wait," he begged her. It wasn't enough. It was never enough.

"I've already stayed too long. They can't know that I was here, John. I'm sorry."

"What are you talking about? Who are they?"

"If they knew John…." She trailed off shaking her head sadly as she backed away from him, moving back into the shadows from which she had come. "You will hold her in your arms again," she parted with before she disappeared before his eyes.

"Don't go," he begged, but it was too late.

Every dream ended the same, with Layna leaving him. Night after night he lost her over and over again, even in the new dreams. And still he spent his days waiting for the dark to come, for that chance to see her once again. She was both his salvation and his destruction.

/

They were all gathered in the gateroom, saying their goodbyes. Ronon was preparing to depart through the gate to gather up his army. All those months and months of training and preparation, they were finally ready. And Hope had a mission for them. There was no telling how long he would be gone, how long it would take them to accomplish the task put before them.

If they were sure about one thing it was that the Wraith were an easier enemy to defeat when they were not a united front. The Coalition's best chance at defeating the Wraith was to divide their forces once again. There was only one being left in Pegasus who could help them to accomplish that. The difficult thing would be in finding him and then getting him to agree to help them.

Commander Todd was Wraith through and through. He was domineering and cruel like all the rest, but he was also very smart and even more cunning. He was somewhat of a radical among the Wraith. While others of his kind looked to their Queens for leadership and guidance, Todd wanted power of his own.

With some help from Teyla, he'd managed to gain that power and acquire his own private fleet of Hives complete with loyal soldiers and drones to fight his battles. It was a love/hate relationship between Todd and Atlantis from the very beginning. Each new encounter with the Wraith Commander and his Hives was a new adventure. Walking into a situation with Todd there was never any telling which side he would be with on any particular occasion.

"You're sure this is the best of ideas?" Ronon asked again, just before departing through the gate.

They all had reservations about this new direction they were taking. The least trusting of all was John Sheppard. If it was possible, he liked the idea of seeing Todd again even less than he had about the idea of partnering with the Asgard. They were all following Hope's lead now, trusting her with their future. Who better to trust with the future than someone who had already seen it all unfold?

John looked from Ronon to Hope. "Like it or not," she said, answering. "You're going to need Todd and his Hives to do what we can't."

"You're right," Ronon responded. "I don't like it," he parted with as he made his way through the event horizon.

His old friends were there on the other side to greet him. Delkys, Remy, Synthe and Rickon were all lined up in front of the gate on the Beta site. "Please tell us you're not serious about this thing with the Wraith," said Delkys in lieu of a greeting.

"Can't do that," Ronon answered as he began heading towards their camp.

"You mean to tell me," began Remy, "that there's a Wraith out there that we can actually trust?"

"You should absolutely not trust him," said Ronon. "In fact, I'm already looking forward to him double crossing us because it means that I'll get the chance to shoot him."

"Well, this mission already sounds promising," said Synthe.

/

/

The lab where Hope had been spending most of her time in Atlantis had not seen much previous use. The last time someone had even walked through its doors had been over two years ago and before then more than ten thousand. There had been a telltale layer of dust covering everything when she had first stepped foot inside the space.

Atlantis' new inhabitants referred to the place as the Replicator lab. It was where Dr. Elizabeth Weir had once again returned to them, or rather her consciousness had returned to Atlantis. The original Commander of the expedition, Dr. Weir was forced to stay behind on the Replicator homeworld after she herself had been infected by active Replicator nanites.

After the Replicator homeworld was destroyed, Weir and the surviving Replicators began experimenting with Ascension. But their experiments were unsuccessful and only left them stranded, bodiless, in subspace. After infiltrating Atlantis' systems they were able to use this lab to create new Replicator bodies for themselves, and then later human ones, to upload their conscious into.

The Asgard had survived the last ten thousand years or so by keeping their consciousness stored and later transferred when needed to new cloned bodies. But the constant cloning of the same genetic materials eventually led to a degradation of their genetic cells. Hope's plan was to use the lab's facilities to create new, uncompromised Asgard bodies.

It would take a while to perfect the process. She was working with dated equipment and an even more dated sample of Asgard source DNA to build from. But she was confident in her abilities. She would accomplish what she'd set out to do here. Her only issue was the Asgard breathing down her neck, nitpicking her every move.

"That is interesting," said Neinun in a judgmental tone, his eye arched to mirror the sentiment as Hope input her last commands into the console in front of her.

"What is it now," Hope asked, clearly exasperated.

"We just never thought of approaching it this way before," he answered her.

"Maybe that is why you have been unsuccessful in finding a solution on your own all these years?"

"Perhaps," he conceded, if not somewhat grudgingly. "When are you predicting this new generation of bodies will be ready?" he asked. It was not the first time one of the Asgard had made a comment about the time she had been spending on this particular project. They were so impatient.

Hope answered him as she continued inputting her commands. "Neinun, the Asgard have waited more than ten thousand years for this. I'm pretty confident that a couple more days isn't going to finally do you guys in. Your species will endure long enough for me to perfect this procedure."

/

/

There hadn't been many leads in Pegasus for them to follow up on. The Wraith were not known for making many friends. Hope had only given them a general starting point. She was going on thirty year old information from another time. There was no way for her to give them Todd's precise location, which is why they were doing things the old-fashioned way.

The last they had heard from Todd was over a year ago when they'd first returned to this galaxy. He had been their unwilling guest back in the Milky Way while Atlantis spent a few months parked on the dark side of Earth's moon. After finally making it back to Pegasus, Atlantis had stopped off on a gated planet at the far reaches of the galaxy and dropped Todd off to fend for himself before continuing on to find another planet on which to once again settle the city.

But if there was one thing that they knew about Todd for a certainty, it was that he was nothing if not resourceful. Whatever he had lost while a prisoner on Atlantis, he was sure to find a way to gain it back and then some. All they would have to do was to wait. Wait while Todd hatched one devious scheme after another until he clawed his way back to power. Wait until he was ready to show his face again.

But they didn't have time to wait. They needed Todd and whatever army he had amassed now. So Ronon and his people would follow every lead they got, no matter how remote, until it led them to him. Atlantis was counting on them. The entire Coalition was counting on them. And if they could believe their guest from the future, the fate of the entire galaxy and then some depended on this.

Ronon followed Delkys into the tavern where Remy and the others were already waiting for them. The place was crowded with locals but Ronon's people had always been good at blending in. It was something that Atlantis had never really tried at. Their clothing and weaponry was very distinctive from anything in Pegasus. They stood out every time they ventured through the gate away from Atlantis. Which is exactly why Ronon's teams were being deployed. He had over a dozen other small scouting units scattered across Pegasus turning over every stone looking for the elusive Wraith Commander.

"Ah, there they are!" shouted Rickon as he spotted them in the doorway from his vantage point at a table in the far corner. He was brandishing a half full mug of Praxis Ale and from the looks of things it was not his first. "Come, Ronon, Delkys. Meet our new friends."

The pair made their way through the room to the table their group was occupying. There were three new faces there to greet them when they arrived. Ronon eyed them suspiciously as he sat down and took the ale that Remy handed him. The men were all at least twice as inebriated as anyone else in the room. Remy and the others seemed to be keeping up with them but Ronon knew from experience that they were nowhere near as smashed as they let on. They always kept their wits about them in the field.

"This is Tymon, Donis, and Cason," Rickon said, introducing the men. "They were just telling us this amazing story that I thought you would be very interested to here."

"And what story is that?" Ronon grunted, staring at the men over the rim of his mug as he took a mouthful of the potent liquid.

"These men are explorers," offered Remy, patting the closest to him, Donis, across his back. "They recently found themselves on a very interesting planet."

"Terrifying is more like it," corrected Cason. "I will never set foot on that damned globe again," he proclaimed before he downed the remainder of his drink.

Delkys, always intrigued by a good story, leaned across the table. "Now you've got my attention."

Remy nodded to Tymon, sitting by his side. "Tell them what you told us," he prompted.

The man inhaled deeply before he began his tale. "In all my years I've never felt anything like it. When the Wraith destroyed my village, I was terrified but I knew why. I could see them, the threat they posed, the carnage they wrought. But this planet, it was as if they were everywhere and nowhere at the same time."

"You're saying there were Wraith there?" Ronon questioned.

Tymon shook his head. "That's the most disturbing thing. There were no Wraith. We searched for hours, all while feeling their presence among us, but we found nothing. It was as if the planet was haunted."

"There must have been something there," prompted Synthe.

"Yes," agreed Donis, finally speaking up. "Something dark is on that planet. And it is no ghost."

Rickon looked pointedly to Ronon before he took his next drink. They knew what kind of beings the Wraith were, what they could be capable of. If what this group was telling them were true then this planet was definitely a place worth checking out. It sounded to Ronon like exactly the kind of place that Todd would set up a camp. They knew where their next stop would be.

Ronon put down his mug and leaned across the table, inching closer to Donis. "Do you think you can remember the gate address of this place?"

/

/

Hope strolled through the halls of the city toward the gateroom again for the third time in as many hours. After spending the last few days cooped up in the Replicator lab with the Asgard breathing down her neck, she was due for a much needed break. She'd walked all over Atlantis and no matter where she looked she couldn't find John Sheppard anywhere.

Walking through the halls of this city was not exactly the same as walking the halls of the Atlantis she had left. A lot of changes had taken place in the thirty year gap between this timeline and hers. Her city was more active than this one. This expedition only encompassed about two hundred people, plus the occasional visitors from the Daedalus or the General Hammond.

Her Atlantis was nearly completely at capacity. She'd grown up in these halls. She knew every inch, every nook and cranny of the city. Earth was her planet but from the moment she'd first stepped foot on Atlantis, this was her home. She loved this place, and all the people in it. They were her family.

But her Atlantis was also a base of war. This war they were in now with the Wraith, this was only the beginning. In her future it only got worse from here. If they thought the Wraith were a threat here, isolated within the Pegasus galaxy, they were in for a big surprise when the Wraith finally discovered Earth in all its populated wonder.

She'd run into Teyla earlier as the woman had been leaving the rec room on her way to fetch Torren. "It must be interesting spending time with a younger version of the father you knew in your timeline," Teyla had said to her as they began walking towards the residential section of the city together.

"I'm sure that it would be but I actually have not seen that much of the Colonel," Hope told the woman. "He has been going out of his way to avoid me since I arrived here."

"I'm sure that is not the case," Teyla tried to argue.

Hope stopped her progress down the hall and turned to Teyla, now very serious. "You can sense me, I know this Teyla. You know that I am different in a similar way that you are."

Teyla nodded hesitantly. "I did get that sense from you, yes."

"Well just as you can sense me, I can sense him, and everyone else. Only my connection is a lot stronger. So believe me when I tell you that I know what he is doing and why." Hope turned and the two continued their short journey. "He's avoiding me. He avoids me for the same reason he no longer plays with Torren. We remind him too much of what he has lost. Of what he thinks he will never have."

Teyla nodded her understanding but would not be deterred. "That may be the case," she conceded. "But that does not mean that we should not try. That you should not try to show him what he has not lost."

So here she was, searching the city from top to bottom for a man who apparently did not want to be found. She found her way to the gateroom again. Major Lorne was there this time. Recently returned through the gate from one of the allied planets, he and his men were packing away gear and supplies to return to the planet.

"Colonel Sheppard," he said when he noticed her presence. "What brings you to the gateroom today? You thinking of accompanying my team and I back through the gate?" he asked. "We wouldn't mind the company."

"No, not today I'm afraid Major. Please, you don't have to call me Colonel Sheppard. It's Hope. Believe me, it's much less confusing that way."

"Well, I guess I can give that a try," he ventured.

"I can make it an order," she joked.

He nodded. "I don't think that will be necessary," he said smiling.

"Thanks. I was actually looking for Colonel Sheppard. Have you seen him?" Hope asked the Major.

He fixed his gaze on her. "You just lectured me on being overly formal and yet you call your father by his rank?" the man asked instead of answering her, a smirk now on his face.

"I'm not sure exactly how to address this version of my father. The man I called father was a seventy year old, three star General. This John Sheppard is closer to my age and yet he is still my father. It feels wrong to only use his first name, yet equally awkward to call him dad. But we are both soldiers, so Colonel seems the most logical option."

Major Lorne reflected on that for a moment before he nodded his understanding. "Well, no mission, no attacks or emergencies. There's only one place to find him during this much down time. He'll be in Layna's lab."

/

Hope found him right where Major Lorne told her he would be. The light in Layna's lab was faint as the doors closed behind her. She made her way in the dimness to her mother's work station where she found John Sheppard staring down motionless at his late wife's frozen work. He made no attempt to acknowledge her presence in the room with him and she was content just to watch him that way for a few moments before she disturbed him.

"This place is just the way I remember it," she finally said. He still did nothing to respond. "I spent a lot of time here," she confessed. She looked down at the photos of the section of the wall from the cave that had been the last thing Layna had been working on and couldn't help but to smile at what she read. "It's kind of funny, how she spent so much time on these, hours and hours poring over every word deciphering them, and never knew that what she was reading was all about her."

It was then that he looked to her. "What do you mean?" he asked.

She reached out and touched the photo, pointing at the writings from the cave. "You knew her as Layna, but before she was Layna she was Chanis," she told him. "These were written by her sister, Kala, started when they were young girls and left behind for her to find all these years later."

After all this time he finally had the answer to the first question he had ever had regarding the woman he loved. He knew her real name now, he knew who she was. All the answers they'd been searching for had been in this room, at their very fingertips for months.

"I'm told you come here quite often," she said. "I understand. I would often come here myself, for the same reason that you do. Within these walls, where she spent so many of her hours in Atlantis, I feel closer to her."

"I should get going," he said as he began to turn and make his way toward the door.

"Please don't leave on my account," she called after his retreating form.

"I have a few things I need to catch up on," he said, making his excuses.

"I'm sorry," she declared, stopping him in his tracks before he could walk out of the door.

It was the way she'd said it that made him pause. He turned to her. "For what?" John asked her.

"For getting your hopes up. I saw the look on your face when you first set eyes on me in that jumper the day I arrived in the city. Before the recognition, I saw great disappointment in your eyes. You thought that I was her."

"Yes. For a moment I allowed myself to believe that she had returned. But I'm beginning to believe that what she told Rodney, the promise she made to come back to me, might not be in the cards." He looked to her pointedly then. "She doesn't come back, does she?" he asked her.

She knew the future. She had experienced it herself. She could give him all the answers he had been searching for since losing Layna. But even as he asked the question, he wasn't sure he really wanted to know the answer. Maybe he needed the hope of one day seeing her again to keep him going.

But he could see it in her eyes. She had never known her mother. In the timeline that she had come from, Layna had never returned from Ascended life again. And in all likelihood she wouldn't in this timeline either.

"She can't," Hope admitted.

"What do you mean, she can't?" he asked her.

"The Others won't allow it. They have rules. She broke their one true rule when she protected us on that Asgard ship. And to punish her they won't allow her to do the one thing she wants to do most. They won't let her come back."

/

/

Tymon and his people had not been lying when they'd spoken about the planet. Ronon felt it from the moment he stepped through the gate. It was the same all-encompassing feeling that washed over you when the Wraith were trying to get into your head. An uncontrollable sense of dread and fear filled him, and it was all he could do to push it aside and continue on. He looked to his friends and saw that they were feeling the same as he, and having the same difficulty in carrying on.

"You never said your Wraith friend was this powerful," said Remy, as he struggled at Ronon's side to regain his composure.

"He wasn't the last time we saw him," Ronon answered simply.

"Yeah, well let's just hope he agrees to join our side," said Rickon. "Otherwise, this whole thing isn't looking so good for us. I've already got the creeps just standing here."

"Just wait 'til you meet Todd," Ronon quipped.

"Another winning Wraith personality?" asked Synthe.

"Understatement," Ronon answered checking his gear. Satisfied, and not wanting to spend more time here than absolutely necessary, he turned to his team. "All right, let's get this over with. I think the sooner we're off this planet, the better."

"Agreed. Which way?" Delkys asked.

Ronon had come to rely on Atlantis' technology over the years. He was used to Rodney pulling out his tablet and pointing them in the right direction. His tracking skills were still sharp. Not as sharp as they used to be, but still sharp enough. Even still, those skills were no good to him now. He reached into his pack and found one of the Ancient scanners that he'd packed and pulled it out. He knew the basics on its usage. He registered the lifesigns of his team on the instrument but that was all. There was no indication of Todd's location on the planet. He put the useless devise back in the pack.

Then an idea came to him. This feeling of dread that washed over them on this planet, it was a defense mechanism that Todd had learned to use to keep people away. But it might also prove to be a useful way to track him as well. Ronon gathered his team in front of the gate and had each of them pace out one hundred yards in different directions.

It was Remy, heading south-west, who called out a few minutes later. "It's getting stronger the further I head this way," he told the others.

"I guess that's the way then," said Rickon.

They began to move off in that direction in formation, eyes alert and weapons cocked. Rickon was at the lead, Remy at the back watching the team's six. They could all feel it. The closer they drew themselves to their target the more the effects of Todd's mind twist began to mess with them. They saw ghosts and heard phantom whispers in the wind blowing through the trees. Every advance they made only tempted them all the more to turn back and head through the gate back home.

The rational part of their brains knew that the fear they were feeling or the illusions they were seeing were all just in their heads, that none of it was real. But even still, it started to take its toll on them. Even Ronon was having trouble fighting off the effects.

"What was that," said Delkys, nearly jumping out of his skin as he turned and aimed his weapon into the darkness, spooked.

"There's nothing there," reminded Ronon. "Whatever you think you're seeing, try and remember that it's not real," he told his friends. "It's just Todd trying to get in your head."

"We must be getting really close then, huh?" said Synthe. "Because I'm getting real freaked out over here guys."

"We're not close," Ronon said shaking his head as he stopped his advancement. "We're there." He felt the monster in his head. He knew that Todd was close. He turned from his group and called out into the darkness. "You can stop with the mind tricks Todd," shouted Ronon. "We know you're here. And we only came to talk."

"That doesn't sound very much like the Ronon I remember," came a voice out of the darkness a few tense seconds later. A moment later Todd appeared from behind a large boulder a few meters away to the group's right and the sensations that had enveloped them since stepping foot on this planet suddenly faded away.

"Believe me," the man answered. "I'm going against my better judgment and all my instincts." He looked around at the desolate planet. "Nice set up you have here," he told Todd.

"I don't welcome many visitors," Todd grinned back at him. "Speaking of which," he said shifting his glance to the others. "It is very nice of you to bring refreshments. I am feeling a little starved. It has been a lonely year out here all on my own."

"I'd like to see you try," said Delkys as he lifted his rifle and aimed it in Todd's direction. He didn't like the idea of he and his friends being this Wraith's next meal.

"They're not here to feed you," Ronon said as he motioned his people to stand down.

"Well then what purpose do they serve?" Todd asked.

"Keeping you honest. They're my team," Ronon answered.

"Interesting," said Todd, cocking his head to the side. "And just where exactly is my dear friend Colonel Sheppard? Don't tell me that he has finally come to his senses and shooed away his Pegasus pet, leaving you to your own devices and these…. others."

"Please let me shoot him," begged Remy stepping up to Ronon's side.

"Not yet," Ronon said. "Besides, we kind of need him alive. Sheppard and the-"

"Ah, so he is still alive?" said Todd, cutting him off. "I stand corrected. He merely sent his dog out to fetch me."

"Seriously," said Rickon. "This is the Wraith Atlantis sent us to find? Why?"

"Ronon, he just basically called you a dog," said Synthe.

"You're right," replied Todd. "Dogs are more intelligent."

"That's it. I'm definitely going to shoot him," said Remy taking a few steps closer to the Wraith Commander as he raised his weapon.

He stopped suddenly as a crippling fear overtook him suddenly. A whimper escaped his throat as the weapon he held vibrated in his trembling hands. That was all the movement he could manage. As Delkys, Synthe and Rickon made a move to intervene, the same happened to them. Ronon had known better.

Todd had been no one to trifle with when they'd parted ways over a year ago. Then, he hadn't been able to instill this type of fear inside of others. His abilities had obviously strengthened significantly since that time. Now he was far more threatening as an adversary. They would have to proceed carefully if they were to have any chance of making it out of this in one piece and with their prize in hand.

"As you can see, I've been using my time here in solitude to hone my new talents," Todd said, smiling triumphantly at the group. He turned pointedly to Ronon. "Now tell me why you have disturbed me before I turn your friends' fears against them and feed on what's left."

"We came here for your help," Ronon stated.

"Really? Well, that's almost funny. What makes you think that I would want to help you? Especially given our very colorful past in that regard?"

Ronon took a deep breath before he gave his answer. He was about to make a deal with the devil. To defeat the greater threat of the Wraith Queens and their new enforcer Charlie, this was the price they would pay, working side by side with Todd once again.

"Because we'll give you the chance to help us destroy the Queens. With them gone you would finally have what you've always wanted."

"And what is that?" Todd asked him.

"Power," he stately boldly. "All your own among the Wraith."

Slowly, the hold that Todd had on the others faded. The crippling fear ebbed away from each of them and they collapsed to the ground, the exhaustion of the experience and the toll it had taken on them hitting them in its place.

Todd grinned mischievously across the distance at Ronon, the sounds of the others labored breathing music to his ears. "You know me so well."

Better the devil you knew.

/

/

"Am I reading this correctly?" asked Carson Beckett as he looked over Hope's medical research for the dozenth time.

"I think you're reading it the same way that I am," said Jennifer.

Carson looked up from the computer terminal and locked eyes with Hope. "This is bloody brilliant," he told her.

Hope smiled as she nodded her agreement. "I'm glad you think so, since it's yours," she told them.

"Mine?" he asked.

"Both of you. What the Hoffans started, with the combined efforts of both your medical genius, you were finally able to perfect it."

"Finally?" asked Jennifer. "I take it we don't come by this on our own anytime soon."

"Um…." Hope began, hedging. "It takes you guys awhile, about twenty years or so," she answered mumbling the last.

"Well, um, thanks for speeding things along then I guess," Jennifer replied before moving to the simulator and beginning to input some data. Beckett moved to her side and they both watched with excited glee as the computer used the new data to virtually reconfigure the sample Wraith DNA on file.

"Unbelievable," exclaimed Carson. "It works! It really bloody works!"

"Of course it does," said Hope. "And not just on a computer sim either."

The two doctors turned to her almost in unison. "This was used in your timeline?" asked Dr. Keller.

"Yes," was her one word answer.

"And the effects were long-term?" Dr. Beckett asked.

"The effects of this new serum were permanent, complete eradication of Iratus DNA from all subjects with successful later integration into the populace."

"Well that all sounds well and good," said Carson.

"Yeah, but I get the feeling that things weren't all roses either, or else you wouldn't be here."

"No, the world I come from was definitely not roses at all. Like I said, it took two decades for this serum to finally be perfected. In that time the Wraith culled hundreds of worlds between here and Earth. Billions of lives were lost." She moved across the room to the synthesizer and started inputting her commands to begin the reproduction of the serum. "But in this time, and with this, we have the chance to change all of that."


	14. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

"She is changing everything."

The others looked on at the events transpiring on Atlantis from their existence in the space between. The anomaly, Hope, was using her knowledge, their Ancient knowledge, to advance the humans. It was blasphemy. The mere fact that they needed her help proved that they were not ready. She was changing the course of their evolution, altering events of this timeline. There was no telling what else she would do, or what the consequences would be, for the humans or the rest of the multi-verse.

Rixton kept his gaze fixed on Hope as she moved about the city. He was a being of enlightenment, beyond the limits of human banalities, and yet he was stumped by the mere existence of this single woman. She was of them and yet not one of them. She had all of their power, all of their knowledge and gifts, and none of their responsibility, none of their code of conduct or moral obligation.

Millennia ago, upon reaching the level of ascension, they'd bound themselves by one true rule, non-interference. Hope's very existence negated that rule. By casting her own sister down from ascension and into the realm of the humans Kala had set into motion a chain of events that would alter the course of the entire known universe. With her actions she had undone everything they had ever stood for. She had created a being that would be unstoppable. Hope was more powerful and potentially more dangerous than anything the universe had ever seen or created.

"Yes," he answered simply, never taking his eyes off of the anomaly.

"We can't allow this. We have to stop her."

"We cannot. She is born of their realm. And therefore she is not bound by our laws."

"She is too powerful. And the very fact that she is not bound by our laws makes her all the more dangerous. We can't let this continue."

She was dangerous because they were bound by their own rules. Hope was born among the humans, she existed among them, and for that simple fact, the Others could not stop her actions. Like Anubis and Adria before her, Hope Sheppard was a problem, but unlike the former two, Hope was a problem of their own making.

Oma Desala was an ascended who'd spent her time in the space between showing the inhabitants of the lower realm the path to enlightenment. But she had made the mistake of showing Anubis the path to Ascension without knowing his true character. Once he'd showed his true colors the Others had tried to descend him, but the attempt only left him trapped between the two planes of existence.

Because of the knowledge he'd gleaned from ascended life, Anubis was able to amass unimaginable advanced technologies, gathering strength for hundreds of years before returning to take his revenge upon the Goa'uld System Lords and dominate the galaxy. With weapons and armies to rival the entire collective power of the System Lords, he posed the largest threat to ever enter their collective domain, as well as to hundreds of peaceful worlds that stood in the shadow of his destructive hand.

Even so, to the Others he was not much of a blip on the greater scheme of the universe and ultimately he was not their responsibility. They let him do his damage and they just stood by and watched. More importantly, they let Oma watch, to show her the consequences of her actions, of her interference. In the end it was Oma who had to make the ultimate sacrifice to undo her own actions by locking herself in an eternal battle with Anubis to prevent him from any further destruction.

Adria had been the human embodiment of the Ori, an Ascended people who were once part of the same ranks of the Ancients. But the Ori separated after choosing a path of worship over science, worship of themselves as a higher power. Adria, like Hope, had been born in the mortal plane as a human and was created by the Ori as a way to thwart Ascended law.

As she grew so too did her knowledge of the universe and the thirst for power that she'd inherited from her creators. She was able to gain great power through her own Ascension and the worship of the followers of the Book of Origin. It was a power that was too great for the Others to go up against.

Fortunately the humans of Earth were able to find and use Merlin's device to show the followers of Origin the truth about the Ori and Adria's power was reduced to a level that was again equal to that of the rest of the Ascended. This made it possible for Morgan Le Fay to make the same sacrifice as Oma Desala before her and lock herself in an eternal battle to stop Adria.

It had taken Ascension and the worship of billions of people for Adria to gain her enormous power. Hope possessed the same amount of power in her current state, as a human. There was no telling what would happen if she were to ascend or if it was even necessary for her. There was no way to shrink or stop her power. There was no one to stop her if she veered off on the same path of those before her.

The chaos and destruction that the Goa'uld and the Wraith, the Replicators or the Ori, or Anubis and Adria had brought would be nothing compared to what Hope could do. The impact that they all had on the universe was nothing. The Others had been so convinced of this that they had just stood by and watched. They'd let the beings on the lower planes fend for themselves.

Hope was the true threat. Hope was a force that they would have fought. But their rule of non-interference kept them from doing so. Kala had seen to it that they wouldn't. She had used their laws against them.

"This is Kala's doing."

"Yes," Rixton confirmed.

"She saw this. She set it all in motion. She cast her sister down, sent her to him. She created the girl, but why? Why would she want to create such a being? Did she learn nothing of Adria?"

"I learned everything from Adria?" Kala said, suddenly appearing before them out of nowhere. "Now it is time for you to learn."

"Learn what, exactly?"

"That you were wrong," she answered.

"We were wrong? You created an instrument of insurmountable destruction."

"You all see things so black and white. That has always been your undoing. You look at her and see all the terrible things she is capable of. I look at her and I see all the good. Why is it so hard for you to believe that she will use her gifts to help? She is a part of us. And all she has done so far has only been for the betterment of them."

"It is not for us to say what is for better or worse."

"No," Kala agreed. "It's for her to say now."

Rixton turned to stare at Kala. "You have always been a loose cannon, Kala. But you have finally taken it too far. It's a shame you dragged your sister into all this."

"My sister? Chanis is innocent in this. All she did was live the human life that she was given. She did not break your rules. She had no knowledge of my plan or what would unfold. You have no right to punish her."

"You may have circumvented our law and our judgment but your sister cannot. She interfered with the lives of the humans on that Asgard ship. She was Ascended when she did that and had full knowledge of our laws. And now she is suffering the consequences of her actions."

"You're punishing her for saving the lives of her husband and child?"

"We are punishing her for breaking our law."

"Your law? What good are your laws doing you now? What good have they done them?" she asked gesturing to the city they watched below. "We have all existed, and watched, never participating and we have forgotten. So we don't get to choose for them anymore. She knows what it means to feel. Hope knows both sides of it. So it's up to her to decide now. She chooses the path we follow."

"You put too much trust in the hands of one single being, especially a being of such a flawed world."

"It's not trust. It's faith. I believe in her. And that's what you have all forgotten."

/

/

/

Hope walked into the control room of the city just in time to see Ronon's face staring back at her on the monitor of the main operations station. She could see the bridge of the General Hammond in the background. As she moved into the room next to the rest of Atlantis' senior staff, she wondered if the ship's crew were enjoying the company of their new guest.

"Todd giving you guys any trouble?" she heard Colonel Sheppard ask.

Ronon rolled his eyes. "Seriously? It's Todd, so what do you think?" he said in answer. "He has been asking a lot about you though. I think he might have missed you this last year."

"You can tell him the feeling's not mutual."

Hope poked her head into view of the camera transmitting back to the Hammond. "How far away are you from the target?" she asked.

Instead of Ronon and his team gating back to the city with Todd in tow, the Hammond had traveled through hyperspace to scoop them up from the planet Todd had been calling home. He required something before he agreed to return to Atlantis, and it would take the help of their new warship to help him get it. In exchange, he was to tell them all the secrets he still carried about the Wraith and the remaining Queens that would help the Coalition win this war.

Ronon glanced quickly away from the camera before he turned back to answer her question. "According to the coordinates Todd gave us, we're halfway there. Another day should do it, give or take a few hours."

"That's all well and good, but do we actually trust him to hold up his end of the bargain?" asked Rodney, pacing nervously behind the others hunched over the small screen.

"Why do you think I'm calling?" asked Ronon. "As a show of good faith he gave us this." As he said the last he nodded to someone off camera.

"We're receiving a data stream from the Hammond," alerted Chuck.

Rodney moved to the man's station and physically moved him out of the way to take his place. He typed in a few commands and opened up the stream. As he looked up from the terminal all eyes in the room were on him. "They're gate addresses," he informed them.

"He says," started Ronon, "they're the locations of several previously unknown, at least to us, Wraith outposts. Destroying them should be a considerable blow to the Queens."

Hope moved to look over the gate addresses given. She paused on one that caught her eye. "This one here," she said pointing to a blinking dot on the screen. "I recognize it from one of the catalogued databases in the archives."

"Archives?" John asked.

"My time," Hope said shaking her head. "As Pegasus was evacuated we inventoried and catalogued anything of note we found on the planets. There is definitely a Wraith stronghold on this address."

"All right then," began John looking to his team. "Let's suit up guys." He turned back to the monitor and Ronon. "Thanks Chewy. We'll let you know what we find. Try not to have too much of a good time with Todd."

"No worries there. I won't. Good luck," he said closing the communication.

Sheppard and the others began moving out as John activated his com. "Major Lorne, round up your team and meet us in the gear room. In about twenty minutes we're going on a little field trip."

Lorne came back on the other end. "Copy that Colonel. We're on our way."

It was then that John noticed Hope was keeping stride with them as they were making their way to the gear room. "Where do you think you're going?" he asked her.

"With Ronon on the Hammond your team is a man short. I'm coming with you. I've been cooped up far too long. This outing seems like just the thing." She noticed the look that came across his face. "Unless you object?"

Slowly, after a moment's hesitation, he shook his head. "No, you're right. We're short-handed," he said as they continued down the hall.

Trailing slightly behind the pair, Rodney whispered in confidence as he walked by Teyla's side. "This should be interesting."

"Yes," the woman answered nodding, a smile threatening in the crook of her mouth. "I agree."

/

/

The puddle jumper descended from the jumper bay into the gateroom. With a full complement of passengers onboard, John Sheppard dialed the gate address of the planet provided to them by Todd and the event horizon mushroomed out in front of them. John and Teyla watched from their front row seats in the cockpit of the jumper as four marines moved to toss a round of grenades through the gate to eliminate whatever might be waiting for them on the other side. With a nod from them after the task was done, the Colonel activated the jumper's cloak and piloted the vessel through the gate.

"Thirty-eight minutes and counting," John declared once on the other side. "Any idea what we're looking for or where to start?" he called to the back of the cabin as the heads up display came to life showing them the topography of the planet.

Hope stood from her seat and made her way to the front section. "If memory serves there's a structure about ten klicks due east," she said standing over John's shoulder. She reached out her hand and tapped the screen. "Here is a good place to set down. The rest of the way we should approach on foot," she suggested.

"And about how far is that exactly?" asked Rodney from his vantage at the back.

Teyla turned to address him. "About a mile and a half," she said answering.

"Oh, perfect," he said flatly, as if it were anything but. He was not looking forward to another trek towards impending doom.

Lorne and his men tried to hold in their laughter. If Ronon were with them he would have been the one to say something smart or maybe even vaguely threatening, or at the very least glare and mumble in Rodney's general direction. They were content with the look of uncomfortableness that was written all over Dr. McKay's face.

A few minutes later the jumper touched down on solid earth and the two teams exited out the back, the craft re-cloaking once all boots were on the ground. The men looked around at the terrain, at least what they could see of it. There was a dense smog that filled the air. They couldn't see more than a hundred yards in front of them. The air was heavy, barely breathable. This was definitely not a planet worth settling, or even exploring voluntarily for that matter. But this was not a voluntary mission.

"Well isn't this just lovely," commented Rodney, sarcastically.

John glared at the man. "Can it Rodney. We're not here to sightsee."

"Yeah?" he said nearly hacking up a lung. "Well how about breathing? We here to do that maybe?"

"You'll be fine," Hope said to him as she stepped to her father's side. "When we explored here there wasn't much they'd left behind. But we did find evidence that led us to believe that the Wraith used this sight to develop a lot of their weapons and conduct some of their medical research."

"What kind of research?" asked Major Lorne.

"The kind no one wants to be the subject of," she turned to answer.

"I don't even want to imagine," breathed Jefferies.

"We should get going," Teyla said. "No doubt the Wraith here have already been alerted to our presence."

"Agreed," said John. "Let's move out. Lorne's team take the east, my team, we're going west."

Everyone nodded and moved off in groups of three as directed, leaving Hope behind to decide which team to join. This was something no one had discussed while they had been prepping for the mission, nor did it seem much like the Colonel was inclined to discuss it now. After a few tense beats the Major, finally taking pity on her, turned back and gestured for her to join his men.

"Almost like old times again," Ayala commented a few minutes later as they were coming up on a ridgeline overlooking the site they were to infiltrate. They'd been without their fourth team member for months now. They all felt Layna's loss, but Hope's presence went a long way toward filling that void, and for more than just them.

There were a dozen drones patrolling outside of the structure, a few hundred meters from their position. If they wanted a look inside, they were going to have to go through them. The other team were making their way up the ridge a few hundred meters to their left. Hope signaled them to move on and flank the drones from their side while her team moved in opposite them in a synchronized strike.

The operation moved quickly and quietly, with each of their party taking out two drones apiece, Hope and John both taking out one extra on their own. After throwing a few grenades through the door and waiting for the resulting blast, the teams moved into the compound, guns ready. They met no resistance at first, the grenades doing them the favor of taking out the four drones posted inside. They split off into their teams, going in opposite directions.

/

John led his team down a dimly lit corridor. As they made their way through the structure they each placed individual wedges of C-4 throughout in key sections that Rodney pointed out to them along the way. Every time John looked behind him he expected to see Ronon backing them up. Missions were always different when one of their team were missing. It had been the same when Teyla had been on maternity leave, and that god-awful time she had been with Michael. Going without one of their own was like learning to function after the loss of a limb. They were all looking forward to Ronon's return.

As they walked their minds involuntarily flashed back on all their time spent on Wraith Hives. "I swear, all these Wraith places are the same," John commented. "Cold, dark, damp, and creepy."

As he said this Rodney reached out to open a hatch leading into the next chamber and came back with a handful of organic sludge. "Not to mention slimy and utterly disgusting," he said, mirroring the same sentiments as John as he flicked his hand trying to get the slime off of it. After a few futile tries he finally opted to wipe it on his tactical pants as they continued on.

"Well, this is new," Teyla said as they entered the next chamber and had a look around.

"Yeah," seconded John.

"I'll say," said Rodney as he stared at the equipment spread throughout the room.

They didn't know what they were looking at, but it was like nothing they had ever seen when dealing with the Wraith before. The room was sparse, but what was there was unbelievable. The space was immaculate, even by human standards, let alone the Wraith.

"Any idea what the hell this is all for?" John asked, casting a glance in Rodney's direction.

"Well don't look at me," he said in response. "It's like the freaking Twilight Zone in here as far as I'm concerned."

"Hope said that the Wraith might have been experimenting with new weapons here," Teyla reminded the men. "And medical research."

"Yeah well, these don't look like any kind of weapons I've ever seen," was John's reply as he reached out to touch one of the odd looking machines in the room with them.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," said Rodney stopping him. John looked over to the man. "You don't know what it is or what it could do. My advice, definitely leave it alone. Trust me, I learned my lesson with the Atero device."

John slowly pulled his hand back and nodded. "Point taken. Set some charges and let's get the hell out of here," he told them.

/

"Anyone else finding it odd that aside from the guards at the door, we're not meeting any resistance here?" asked Lieutenant Jefferies as their team entered another empty chamber.

"This is a secret Wraith instillation. It has been untouched by outsiders for millennia. I'm surprised there were any guards here at all," said Hope. "Whatever they're doing here, it must be worth protecting."

"Weapons usually are," said the Major. "How are we doing on time?" he asked.

"Twenty-three minutes," answered Ayala checking his watch.

"Five more minutes to clear this place and lay our final charges and we're bailing," Major Lorne told them.

"Copy that," Jefferies and Ayala said in unison as Hope nodded her agreement.

"No more time for sightseeing guys," Hope said leading the way through the structure, clearing the chambers at twice their previous speed.

"I think we hit the jackpot," Ayala said not a minute later as they entered a large illuminated chamber.

"Geez," exclaimed Jefferies. "You think this might be why Todd wanted us to hit this place?"

"That'd be my guess," answered Major Lorne as they all stared amazed at the vast chamber before them. It was filled top to bottom with Wraith Hive torpedoes. There were thousands of them.

Lorne looked to Hope. "You didn't know this was here?" he asked her.

She shook her head. "Like I said, when we got here in my time almost everything was cleared. We surmised that they might have been making weapons here but nothing on this scale."

"All right," he said turning to his men. "We obviously found what we were looking for. Ayala, document this cache, the rest of us will set the charges. We're bugging out in two minutes, so set your watches."

"Aye sir." They each set about accomplishing their tasks, Ayala pulling out his camera and the rest of the team setting their remaining blocks of C-4.

When they were all done they made their way back to the entrance and found the other team waiting for them. "Cutting it a bit close, don't you think?" said the Colonel checking his watch as they were headed toward them.

"Sorry, the bay full of torpedoes slowed us down a bit," said Lorne.

"Did you say torpedoes?" asked Rodney.

"Affirmative," the Major answered.

"The Wraith queens won't be happy to part with those, I'd bet," said John.

"That's a pretty safe bet," Lorne answered as the teams stepped out of the structure and into daylight.

"Kind of a shame to blow it all up though," said Teyla.

"Don't worry, I've got pics," said Ayala with a smirk.

"I've got something better," said Hope pulling out some sort of scanning device and offering it up.

Rodney moved to the shiny new toy eagerly and took it from her.

"What is it?" Teyla asked.

Rodney looked up from the device amazed. "It's a complete breakdown of everything this device passed within five hundred meters of."

"So pretty much everything?" Jefferies said.

"Yes. It's basically a 'How To' guide to disabling the Wraith's primary weapons," Rodney told them.

All eyes turned to Hope.

"You may have just handed us the key to winning this war," John said.

"That's kind of what I'm here for."

/

They were double timing it back to where they'd left the jumper when the Wraith stunner blast shot past them from behind, just missing Lorne's right ear. The group stopped their retreat, dropping to one knee and spinning around to return fire. There was a group of drones down the ridgeline mounting an assault on their position. They were advancing fast.

"So much for making it back to the jumper _**before**_ they call in for reinforcements," Rodney cried out above the popping of their P90s.

"We've still got three minutes. These guys must have already been here," said Jefferies.

"Anyone got any bright ideas?" Rodney asked.

"Killing them is usually a good one," John said.

As he said this Hope signaled to Lorne's team to move. She led them down the side of the ridge while the others continued to draw the full attention and fire of the drones below. They moved down the ridgeline unnoticed. When they had a good advantage they fired on the unsuspecting drones. The distraction was enough to clear the path for the others. Defending one position from two angles proved too difficult for the drones and they were all eventually disabled. The other team found their way back down the ridge to the sides of their counterparts and they all began collecting the downed Wraith's stunner rifles.

"Anyone else hear that?" Lorne asked.

They all stilled and quieted until they could hear it too. It was a faint but distinct beeping tone. Hope and John pinpointed it first. It was coming from underneath one of the dead drones.

"What is it?" Lieutenant Jefferies asked as the group gathered around and watched as John moved to turn the Wraith over. Once he did he instantly wished that he hadn't. The source of the beeping was an active self-destruct on the drone's vest and it was already counted down to the last few seconds.

"Run!" Hope yelled trying to warn the others but it was already too late. They had all begun to turn to run and flee but were nowhere near fast enough to escape the blast radius.

Hope and the Colonel had been the closest to the downed drone. She instinctively jumped on top of him just as the blast hit. John looked up from his vantage point on the ground beneath Hope and saw the fire and debris swell above but by some unexplained miracle never touching the pair of them. There was something he could not see shielding them.

It was all over in a matter of seconds. Hope stood and helped her father back to his feet and they looked out at the aftermath of destruction around them. He and Hope had both managed to come out unscathed, but the same could not be said for the rest of his teams.

Teyla and Rodney had been the closest besides them to the epicenter of the explosion. Their bodies were badly burned. Major Lorne and his men had been a little further out. Their bodies were only slightly less burned. But one thing was clear, they were all dead. All of his friends were dead.

For the last few months all he had known was loss and pain. This war was taking everything from him. But somehow he always managed to endure where others did not. Today, looking at the lifeless bodies of his closest friends, was not the first time that he wished that he hadn't survived, that he wished it was himself lying burned and lifeless on the ground.

"I don't understand," he breathed, falling to his knees beside his friends' bodies. He crawled to Teyla's and Rodney's sides. Tentatively he stretched out his hand to touch Teyla's but couldn't bring himself to do it, pulling back at the last minute and instead weeping into his open palm.

"I'm sorry," he heard Hope say to him. "There wasn't enough time for me to extend my shield to everyone."

"Your shield?" he asked looking up at her, lost.

Hope stared at the mess around her. From the moment she'd stepped off of that jumper into the gateroom of the city she had changed the way events in this timeline unfolded. Her mere presence had caused the death of those her father held dear, of her closest Atlantis family.

Teyla had always been her father's closest friend. After Hope had been brought from Earth to Atlantis to live when she was six, Teyla had practically been like a mother to her. She and Torren had helped Hope to understand a part of herself that no one else could. With the Wraith DNA coursing through their bodies, they were different from the others in a similar way to her. She never felt out of place being herself around them.

As the Ancient knowledge in her head began to manifest it had been Rodney who had spent his days and nights by her side trying to understand it all and put it to use. Over the years they had gotten lost together in the depths of their work more times than she could count. Rodney had been one of the only people she could talk to on a highly intellectual level and there had been several times that she greatly appreciated a helpful ear.

These people had helped to shape her into the person she was today. These people were meant for more than to die on an unnamed planet of Pegasus, the victims of another Wraith incendiary device. There were still things out there left undiscovered by Dr. Rodney McKay. There were still people left unhelped and unsaved by Teyla Emmagan. There were still planets left unexplored and Wraith left unchecked by Evan Lorne and Matthew Ayala and Kenneth Jefferies. And there was John Sheppard left behind, a man destroyed by their loss.

She couldn't let any of that happen. She wouldn't. "It might not be too late for me to save them," she offered the broken man she no longer recognized as her father.

"Save them how?" he asked.

"There are still many things you have yet to learn of my existence, father," she said. He looked to her quizzically. "I need you to help me," she told him. "Quickly, before it's too late. Help me gather them together."

As she said this she walked to Ayala's body at the outer edges of the blast zone and began to move him back toward the group. Carefully, John moved to lift Teyla into his arms and place her gently down beside Rodney. Next he moved to Major Lorne while Hope took hold of Jefferies. Once the circle was formed Hope took her place at its center.

She kneeled to the ground without another word, John Sheppard watching her every move from the outside. She closed her eyes and touched her hand to the earth. In that touch she reached out to all the life and energy flowing through the planet. She felt the grass and the trees blowing in the wind, the waves of the oceans crashing against the surf, the flutter of butterfly wings, the buzz of every insect, and she drew from it all. Like a current of electricity it flowed through her, coursing through her body, steadily building and building. And when she had enough of it, she let it go.

John watched, stunned, as bursts of energy flowed out from Hope and into the formed circle. She reached out to run her hand across the foreheads of the fallen and he stared transfixed as the energy began to flow to them. He could see the shield she had mentioned as the energy within ricocheted off of it. It was like the energy shield of a starship, only it was emitted not by a ship, but by a single person, Hope.

As the energy surged within the shield, John watched captivated as the burns and wounds on the bodies of his friends began to slowly heal. Soon, all he could see inside the circle was the energy. It was so bright the people within disappeared behind the light of it. After a few seconds, the energy and the shield keeping it at bay both disappeared and he was left staring at Hope.

"Are they alive?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Not yet," she answered before she moved to Teyla's side. "I've only restored their bodies." And then he watched again in utter shock as Hope attached her right hand to Teyla's chest, as a Wraith would for a feeding. To his surprise, Teyla sprang awake seconds later coughing up the phantom smoke in her lungs.

"Teyla," John breathed aloud in shock, coming to the woman's side as Hope moved on do the same to Major Lorne.

"What happened?" Teyla asked him.

What did he tell her? What had he seen? He wasn't sure that he truly understood any of it. Whatever it was, he knew that this was something big. Like a Wraith, his daughter had breathed life back into Teyla. He'd known since the day she was born that she was special, that she was different somehow. But he hadn't fully grasped how completely unique she was until this very moment.

She possessed more than just the knowledge of the Ancients passed along to her from her mother. Somehow she had Wraith abilities as well. The only thing that he did know was that nothing was certain anymore. He had no idea what this meant for any of them. He only knew one thing. Hope was his daughter, and his one and only job was to protect her, from anyone and anything, no matter what that entailed. He would do that in any timeline, with any version of her he encountered. She was and would always be his to protect. He had failed her mother in that, but he would never fail her.

"I'm not exactly sure," John answered Teyla, eyeing Hope and noticing that Lorne's chest was now once again rising and falling with even breaths. She moved on to restore Rodney, and then to Jefferies and Ayala in turn. By the time she came to a rest, it was almost as if the explosion had not happened at all. His teams were alive and well, seemingly without any residual damage or injury.

"Why aren't we all dead?" asked Rodney as he looked around. The fact that they were sitting in the middle of a crater had not escaped his attention.

John's eyes were glued to Hope as she moved away from the group. He brought himself back to his feet and found his way to her side. When he reached her he noticed she wasn't looking very well herself now. She was sweating and had become pale after whatever she had done to bring them all back. She tried to walk back to the group on her own power but faltered and fell back down to her knees.

"Hope?" he said, kneeling swiftly to her aid. He reached over and cupped her cheek in his palm, brushing her sweat-drenched hair out of her face. He didn't like what he saw when he looked down at her.

"I'm all right," she assured him. "I just need a minute."

He was unconvinced. His previous experiences with the Wraith had not prepared him for this. But what his daughter had done was not quite the same as what he'd seen Wraith do. The Wraith took the life-force of another being and could restore what they had taken. However, not many chose to give back. Hope had not taken a life at all, only restored that which had been lost. Whatever she had given to Teyla and the others had come from her. And it looked like the effort had nearly drained her. She needed something to replace what she had given away.

He wrapped his arms around Hope, hugging her close to him. "Take whatever you need from me," he whispered in her ear, so low that only she could hear. If she was similar to the Wraith in that restoring Teyla and the others had weakened her so badly, then surely she could restore her own strength by taking from him as the Wraith did when they fed. He would give her as many years of his life as she needed to survive. Even if she had to take them all from him, drain him completely, that was a sacrifice he was willing to make for her. She had risked her own health to save them. He would risk everything to save Hope.

She smiled at him sadly as she shook her head. "It doesn't work that way." She lifted her hand to show him that her palm was not the same as that of a Wraith, that she was not the same as a Wraith. "I don't feed like Wraith. I can't take from you," she informed him. "Not in that way. And I won't."

He looked her over, the worry of a father in his eyes.

"Do I look that bad?" she asked, trying for a small smirk.

"Worse," he answered. She smiled weakly at him. He couldn't bear to see her in this state. There had to be something that he could do. He had to do something. He would not sit by helpless while he lost someone else he loved. He would never let that happen again. Especially not to Hope. "What can I do? What do you need?" he asked.

"Rest. I need to rest."

He hoisted her up in his arms and got to his feet. She offered no resistance. Instead she wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Ok Kid, you rest. I've got you now."

She smiled at the familiar moniker. It felt good to hear it again from him.

"We're moving out," he called to his people as he started back to the waiting jumper. He looked down to the woman in his arms and found that she had already drifted off. He secured her tightly in his arms and carried her that way all the way back to the waiting jumper, his teams following behind him.

When they reached the spacecraft John sat in the rear, unwilling to let Hope go as Lieutenant Jefferies moved to take the helm. "Major Lorne!" John called when they were in the air and headed back to the gate.

"Colonel?"

"Blow it," he ordered, as Rodney began dialing the address back to Atlantis from the co-pilot's seat.

"Yes, sir," he said pulling out the remote detonator from a pocket on his flack vest and flipping the switch.

The sounds of the exploding compound behind them mingled with the sounds of the activating gate. As the ship made its way through the Stargate, John held the unconscious Hope protectively in his arms. He didn't let her go until they reached the medical bay at Atlantis.


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

As soon as Emily opened the front door to the Sheppard family mini-mansion John could hear the telltale sound of tiny feet running down the stairs. A second later the little girl barreled into him, trying her best to squeeze the life out of him. "Daddy, you're back!" cried little Hope.

"Yes, of course I'm back," he said lifting the five year old into his arms. "I can never stay away from my girl for too long at a time. My heart starts to hurt too much if I do. I've missed you so much Hope."

"I missed you too Daddy! You stayed away a long time. Why?"

"Daddy had a very big, top secret mission, far, far away. But look at you. You've gotten so big," he remarked, looking the little girl over.

"Auntie Em says I've grown a whole inch," she informed proudly.

"I think I might have to agree with Auntie Em. Next time I come back from one of my missions I might not even recognize you," he said bending down and depositing the girl back on her own two feet.

"Sure you will Daddy. But do you have to go away again? I don't like it when you're gone."

He stared her in her perfectly green eyes, the feature of his beautiful daughter that he undoubtedly loved the most, they were so much like her mother's. "I don't like being away from you even for a second sweetie. But Daddy is a soldier. It's his job and it keeps him away a lot, but what he's fighting for is very important."

"I know, but can't I come with you this time, just this once?" she begged.

He shook his head sadly. "I'm sorry honey, it's just too dangerous right now. That's why you live here with Auntie Em and Uncle David, where Daddy knows you're safe and happy. Aren't you happy here Hope?" he asked her.

"Yes," she nodded. "I just miss you when you're not here."

"One day, my fighting will be over and I will come back for you and we'll be together for good Hope," he vowed to her, hoping against hope that that would one day be the case.

"You promise?"

He nodded slowly. "I'll be around so much you'll get sick of me," he answered her. "Like when you eat too much ice cream." She giggled at that. "So what do you want to do while I'm here this time?" he asked her. "We can do anything you want."

"Can you take me to the park? Auntie Em wouldn't let us go yesterday because it was raining."

"The park?" he asked and she nodded her affirmation. "Sure," he said noticing Emily and David were trying to get his attention behind the child's back. "Why don't you run up to your room and get your things. Ask your cousin if he wants to tag along."

Hope ran upstairs and John followed his brother and sister-in-law into the kitchen. "What's up guys?" he asked, feeling a lecture coming on.

"You were gone a lot longer his time," Emily started.

John nodded his head. He knew this was going to be an issue from the moment he dialed the gate from Atlantis back to Earth. How did he explain to them that he hadn't been able to visit until now because he had spent the last two months evacuating the population of entire planets in a galaxy they knew nothing about?

"I know. Things are getting complicated. I couldn't get away until now," he told them.

"And what about Hope?" she asked.

"What about her?" he countered.

"You see how happy she is to see you now? But you weren't here to deal with the disappointment, see the sadness in her eyes when you were gone, when you didn't come back when you said you would. This situation, it isn't good for her John."

"Situation?" he asked.

"We've been talking," David chimed in. "We love Hope, like she's our own daughter."

"But she's my daughter David," John said, the anger starting to flare.

"Is she John?" he asked. "'Cause we're the ones raising her while you're off God knows where."

"'God knows where?' I'm off fighting a war, trying to make sure that she stays safe."

"Right, from the phantom enemy that's after her? Because her mother was some kind of royalty? Right John?"

They no longer believed his story, his very reason for leaving Hope with them in the first place, if they had even believed his story to begin with. That was the problem with telling half-truths. They eventually caught up to you. Even if the Air Force gave him permission and he could tell them the truth of the highly classified military operation that was the Stargate Program, it was so far out there that they wouldn't believe him anyway.

"What is it that you want, David?"

"We want you to get it together, John. It's been five years of the same thing. You come visit for a day or two, get that little girl's hopes up, and then you just disappear for stretches of time. And then we do it all over again. It's not fair John. Not to us and especially not to Hope."

"She deserves stability, and the way things are with you, she's not getting it," Emily added.

"I hope you're not going where I think you're going with this?" he said to them.

"You have to stop this John. Putting this idea in her head that one day you'll come and stay for good. Or take her away to live with you in a magical city. You're selling her these unrealistic fantasies and all they're going to do is break her heart even more than you already have."

"Everything I do is for her, to keep her safe," John argued his brother's words.

"Then do that John. Keep her safe, safe from you. Because right now you're the only one who is hurting her."

He didn't know what to say to that. He had absolutely no response. It was one thing for Hope to live an entire galaxy away from him, only seeing her once or twice a month when the Wraith war allowed him time to gate back to Earth. That time in Pegasus without her wounded him enough as it were. But they wanted to take even those few days a month he got with her away from him.

"We're ready!" interrupted a squeaky voice from the other room as the two children reached the bottom of the stairs, eager now to get to their destination.

"I'm going to go and take my daughter and nephew to the park. But this conversation is definitely not over," he said heading out of the kitchen to meet the waiting children.

They battered him with questions about his travels and adventures on the walk to the park, and he answered as best he could, but his mind was still on the conversation left unfinished back at the house. Was his presence in his daughter's life hurting her? Or rather his lack of presence? Of course if he had a choice he would be with her. She was everything to him. But the circumstances of their situation weren't as easy as that.

He could not possibly take her back to Pegasus and expose her to all the dangers and threats to her safety that he had brought her to Earth to shield her from in the first place. And he couldn't very well abandon the fight against the Wraith and other Pegasus enemies. At least on the frontlines of the war in Pegasus he had some semblance of control of their fate. Without that what kind of life would it be for either him or Hope, to be on the outside of it all, always living in the fear of the enemy one day finding them? So where did that leave him? It left him right back where he started five years ago, with an impossible decision to make.

Before he knew it the trio had arrived at the park. Without so much as a 'goodbye' or 'see you later' the children sprinted off to the swings as John found a nice quiet bench within eyesight. As he watched the children at their play he could not keep his mind from drifting.

Could he make that choice? Could he leave for good and stay out of Hope's life? Was that the way to keep her safe as his brother had suggested? If it was what was best for her, he would do it. He would sacrifice watching her grow and his own happiness for her well-being. But was that really what was best for her? She was already without her mother. Should she also be denied her father? But the idea implanted in his head from his conversation with his brother haunted him. Was he the one threat to Hope that he hadn't been able to see?

His focus was brought back to the present when he heard Hope's cries. He found her and her younger cousin Derek standing at the base of a tree just outside the swing area.

"Uncle John, look!" cried out the little voice of the three year old boy as he pointed down at the ground before him to a tiny baby bird lying lifeless on the Earth.

Hope looked up from the bird, turning sad eyes on her father. "It fell," she said sadly. "It's not moving, Daddy."

John kneeled down slowly in front of the child with a pained expression across his face. "It can't move anymore sweetie. It broke its neck when it fell."

"It's dead," Derek stated flatly, poking his head in closer to get a better view. Hope stayed where she was. Boys were always more curious with things like this.

"I don't want it to be dead," she argued. "I want it to be better and fly again."

"Hope, everything eventually dies," John told her gently.

"Everything?" Derek turned and asked.

"Yes," John told the children. "We live and then we die. It's the cycle of life throughout all the universe. It's what makes our time here special, why our choices and actions here matter. Do you understand?" he asked looking to his daughter.

"Yes," she answered, a look on her face that he had never seen before. "But you're wrong daddy," she said stubbornly. "Everything doesn't die."

She said it so confidently that he was tempted to believe her. "I know," he said coming up with an idea. "How about we bury the bird and give it a nice funeral, make it so that he will always be remembered. Would you like that?" he asked them.

"Yeah," answered Derek while Hope remained silent and resolute.

John made a move to pick up the bird but Hope cried out, stopping him. He watched as the small girl reached out to gently lift the baby bird into her tiny hands. She clutched at the lifeless, limp body protectively. It only took a few beats for it to happen, but when it did it shook the foundation of his world. Hope stopped as she felt a tiny flutter in her hands. John watched as she slowly opened her clutched hands and the bird miraculously flew out of her upturned palms.

"Wow!" exclaimed Derek, his head cocked back as his eyes scanned the skies.

"Daddy, look!" Hope said, delighted. "It's better now! It can grow big and make its mark on the universe too."

"Yeah," John breathed aloud as he followed the path of Hope's eyes and watched the resurrected bird's flight. But inside he was absolutely terrified for his daughter. She was more special than he thought, and in more danger as well. Soon, even Earth might not be safe for her.

All he thought about for the rest of his time on Earth was what to do about this new development. His entire existence now was only about one thing, keeping Hope safe. For the last five years his answer had been Earth, an entire galaxy away from those who would harm her. But he wasn't blind to the shortcomings of the people of his own planet.

If the wrong people here learned what she was capable of, Hope's happy life would drastically change. In the best of scenarios they would try to use her and her abilities for their own purposes. In the worst case, she would spend her life as someone's science experiment or a societal outcast. He wouldn't allow any of that to happen to his daughter.

"Hope, I need to talk to you about what happened at the park today," John said as he was tucking the girl into bed later that night.

"Are you mad that I made the bird better Daddy?"

He shook his head. "No honey, you didn't do anything wrong. You just surprised me is all," he assured her. "What you did Hope, it was special, because you are special. Since the day you were born Daddy's only reason for anything he does has been to keep you safe. But now I need you to help me do that."

"How?"

"What you did with the bird and anything else that may come along in the future, I need for you to keep it a secret. We can't tell anyone else what you are able to do."

"Even Auntie Em and Uncle David?" she asked.

"Even them, and Derek too. This will be a secret just between us. Just like the stories about Atlantis, where Daddy lives. Do you think you can do that for me Hope?" he asked her.

She nodded her head slowly in agreement. "Okay." He thought he could leave it that but as he moved to kiss her goodnight she stopped him. "Daddy, why am I special?" she asked.

"You know Kid, that's a story left untold far too long. Scoot over," he told her. As she did he reclined on the double canopy bed beside her and wrapped his arm around her small frame. "You are special because you take after your mother."

"Mommy? Daddy you never talk about her," she said.

"Well that changes now. Your mother was a part of this incredible race of people. They were everything that humans on Earth aspire to be. They were so great and powerful that they eventually learned how to live among the stars. And for thousands of years they did, watching over the lifeforms on Earth and other planets. But one day your mother fell out of the heavens and crashed on a distant planet releasing an enormous amount of energy. Atlantis shook with the force of it. A power as great as that we couldn't pass up so my team was sent to investigate and were surprised to find only one single woman."

"Mommy?"

"Yes. She was very beautiful, with green eyes and wavy brown hair just like yours. But falling from the heavens is no easy feat, and so as a result she was left with no idea of who she was or what her life had been like before we rescued her from that planet. But she was smart and resourceful and had many great skills to offer us so we asked her to join us in our fight against our greatest nemesis. So she stayed in our great city Atlantis and together we had many adventures and she was so incredible that of course I had no choice but to fall completely in love with her. Lucky for me, she felt the same. We were happy for a time. But what we didn't know was that stars aren't meant to stay on this plain forever. Eventually she had to return to the heavens from which she had fallen. But before she did she left a special gift behind, a tiny baby Star Princess. That's why you're special Hope, you're part star."

She lifted her head and smiled up at him. "That's a good story Daddy," she beamed.

"It's not a story. Most of it is true."

"Like the stories about Atlantis?" she asked.

"Exactly like the stories of Atlantis," he agreed.

"Will I ever get to go there?" she pleaded.

"You were there once when you were still brand new. It was your first home before I brought you here. One day you will get to return there, I promise you. Atlantis is your birthright, Hope. You were meant to live there."

He hugged her close to him, kissing her forehead goodnight before rising from the bed and pulling the covers over her. "Good night, Daddy," she said as he reached the door and turned out the light.

"Good night sweetie," he said closing the door and heading downstairs.

David and Emily were waiting for him. He knew what he had to do now. Everything he had told Hope was true. Atlantis was her birthright, it was her true home. He wouldn't deny her that anymore. There her gifts would be accepted and nurtured. He commanded his own small army there. He would make sure that she was protected in every way. He would have his daughter and she would be safe.

/

/

/

When Hope woke up she was lying in one of the cots in the medical recovery room. Slowly she sat up and noticed that her father was there in the room with her. His eyes locked onto hers instantly as if he had been waiting there all his life just to look into her eyes once again. "You scared the hell out of me, you know," he said to her, a relieved smile spreading across his face.

"Sorry," she croaked, her mouth dry as she gave him a soft smile back. "How long was I out?" She reached to the table beside her cot and grabbed the cup of water resting there. She drank it greedily.

"Over sixteen hours," he answered her.

"You've been here the whole time?"

"Keller tried to have them drag me away but I fought them off," he quipped. His face grew more serious as he thought about his experience over the last day. "By the time I got you here you'd passed out. Your vitals were low, I was afraid we were losing you. They asked what happened, I had no idea what to tell them. I'm still not sure what happened myself, or rather, how."

She looked him over. Her father, the man in her timeline, the one who had raised her, he'd had the advantage of learning over time about her abilities. As she had developed, so had her mind, and with that her capabilities. Slowly, one by one they had started to present themselves. Some were more easily acceptable than others. Some he had expected she was capable of all along, somewhere in the recesses of his mind. Others, like what she had done with Teyla, had taken him completely by surprise. This man, this version of her father, was learning everything about her all at once, without the benefit of time in between to buffer the shock.

"I'm starving," she confessed. "How about we head to the cafeteria? You buy me lunch and I'll tell you everything."

"Deal."

/

/

Ronon was pacing back and forth within the confines of the quarters assigned to him aboard the General Hammond when the hail came for him over the ship's communication system. He quickly made his way to the bridge. Todd and his armed escort were already there waiting for him when he arrived.

"We're coming up on the coordinates now," Colonel Carter informed when she saw him. "We're just out of sensor range but I thought you should see this." She turned to her com officer. "Bring it up."

A second later an image appeared on the main viewscreen. It was a swarm of Wraith Hive ships. Ronon turned to Todd, fuming. "All of this and you were just leading us into another of your traps again?" In an instant his pistol was out and shoved under the Wraith's chin. "Tell me why I shouldn't just end you now?" he asked.

"My my, aren't we wound a little tightly," Todd taunted, unfazed by the threat of death. He turned from the man inches from his face to the Colonel seated in the command chair. "If you'll have your man look a little closer you'll find that none of the Hives are active."

Carter looked for confirmation from her Lieutenant. After checking his instruments he nodded. "He's right. All Hives are showing minimal power. No weapons, or propulsions. I'm barely even getting life-support readings. They're dead in the water, sir."

Colonel Carter stood from her chair and addressed the former Wraith Commander. "What is this?" she asked him.

"It's my army," he answered. "They're asleep now, waiting for my return. And if you want my help to destroy the Queens you're going to have to help me awaken them."

/

/

They were sitting at a table on the terrace just off of the main cafeteria. Hope had eaten what he thought was her body weight in food. She was bordering on Rodney-like levels of voraciousness. The comparison of the two of them brought a smile to his face. This was how she refueled. She was made of energy. She had transferred some of that energy to Teyla and the others to bring them back from death. And to replenish her own strength she needed reast and massive amounts of calories. She wasn't what he'd thought she was. She was better.

"You were there the first time," she told him. "I was about five, and you were visiting Earth. You took me to the park," she said smiling at the memory. "A baby bird fell from a tree and as I held it in my hands wishing it were alive again, suddenly it was. I never saw you more scared for me than you were at that moment. When you realized what I could do. That was definite proof that I was different, as you had always believed I was.

"That was when you decided to finally bring me to Atlantis. This place," she said looking around at her surroundings. "Earth is my planet, but from the moment I set foot here, Atlantis was my home. I loved it here. I thrived here. It was everything you ever told me it was and more. But I'm getting ahead of things a bit. As I told you before, in my timeline the war with the Wraith does not go well for Pegasus. The Coalition fought with everything they had and made it several years, but in the end they were no match for the Wraith Queens. By the time I was eight the Wraith had laid waste to most of the populated worlds of Pegasus. The Atlantis teams spent months finding and relocating any survivors to unpopulated worlds in other galaxies. When that was done, when you had saved all you could of Pegasus, Atlantis made its way back as well and took up permanent residence back on the moon."

"By then a new ability had presented itself. I didn't know what it was at first. I thought I was going crazy. I was just a little girl, and whatever was happening to me scared the hell out of me. When I realized what it really was, it didn't do much to assuage my fears. I could hear what the people around me were thinking, what they were feeling. And in everything I heard and saw, I could see for myself just how different I was from them. I was in their heads. It was another Wraith trait."

"And you got those traits from me?" he said guessing correctly. She nodded. He'd been pondering this mystery the entire time she had been unconscious in the medical bay. After he was sure that she was going to be okay, he'd had nothing but time to think while he waited for her to wake up. And he thought he figured out the mystery. "The bug bite and the retrovirus. It was never completely eradicated from my DNA, was it?" he asked.

"No, it wasn't. It lay dormant in you, but it's still a part of you. And you passed it on to me. And when that Wraith tried to feed on my mother when she was pregnant with me, that's what saved her. It's what saved us all. In that attempt to feed, to take her life-force while she was pregnant with me, the opposite happened. His life-force was drawn into me. That's another innate ability of mine."

"Wraith can't feed on you?" he asked.

"No, I'm naturally immune. In fact, the enzyme the Wraith pass to their victims acts as a catalyst for me, involuntarily activating my natural ability to absorb energy."

"And that's what happened on that Wraith Hive," he said finishing for her, all the dots finally coming into place for him after all these months. "I always knew you would be special. I just thought that whatever it was that made you that way came from your mother. I never imagined I would pass anything on to you other than flying, let alone Wraith traits Hope."

"Oh, I've been known to pilot a craft or two." He raised an eyebrow at that. "But my abilities are not just Wraith or just Ancient, they're both. Complementary gifts, one reinforcing the other and therefore making them stronger, better than the one alone. Wraith can give and take life energy, Ancients have been able to heal the sick or injured. Wraith can get into the minds of their prey, Ancients, namely Chanis' sister Kala, could see future events before they came to pass."

"And you can do all of this."

"Among other things," she answered. As she said this the glass to his right slid across the messhall table and into her waiting hand.

"Telekinesis," he said trying to hide his surprise. "Trippy."

"Is this too much?" she asked him.

Slowly, he shook his head. "No, I think I need to know this. I've had so many questions for so long. It's nice to finally have some of them answered. Tell me more," he begged hungrily.

"It'd be better if I showed you instead. Would that be all right?"

He smiled across the table at her. "Now I'm even more curious."

She stared at him with a curiousness she had never known. From the moment she'd first seen him on that puddle-jumper when she'd first come through the gate into this time it had been a constant struggle to shield her mind from his. In his current state all his thoughts and emotions were so raw and bare, screaming at her constantly.

The man she had known as her father was a man trying to heal. But this man in front of her was still a man completely broken. Seeing him the way she had for the past few days had broken her heart. Now more than any other time that had come before she wanted to know his mind. She needed to truly understand her father in all his pain and suffering. She needed to know his deepest fear, his deepest regret, his greatest loss. She had travelled here to undo the past and part of that was setting this man back on the right path, a path that had been altered by the actions of others. And only in truly understanding him would she be able to do that.

She opened her mind to his and began to read him. As a child she had not yet mastered her abilities. The thoughts and feelings of those around her had almost overwhelmed her until she learned to control her mind, to block them out. She didn't want to hear the inner most thoughts and feelings of those she loved. She felt that it was an invasion of their privacy and it made for awkward interactions when she discovered something especially sensational about them. So she had built up a shield in her mind.

She had never read her father before. Not in the twenty-five years that she knew she could. But she wanted to know what this version of him was thinking now. So she probed him, and what she saw in him almost overwhelmed her. It all just washed over her. Love. So much love. He loved her with everything he had. And he accepted her for everything that she was. And as she read him she knew that this was the way her father had felt for her. This version of him and the version she had grown up with, they were the same. After thirty years of mystery she finally saw how her father saw her, and she felt relieved.

John waited, staring at her patiently. And then he saw it. He saw her as a small child playing in a park, holding a broken bird. She was a beautiful little girl. The curly, jet-black hair cascading down passed her shoulders, the piercing green eyes, the dimples, the grace and beauty of her mother in her every move. It all played out for him in his mind as if he were watching a movie.

She showed him everything. A highlight reel of her entire timeline played out in his head in the span of a couple of minutes. He saw another version of himself tucking the small girl into bed. He watched that same girl a few years older running into his arms to greet him as he returned to the city through the Stargate. He saw her running through the halls of the city with a boy a bit older and realized that the boy was Torren. He watched as the Wraith found their way to Earth and the ensuing battles.

The years ticked on, the war with the Wraith turning Earth completely on its axis. In the blink of an eye the world of the sheltered, in-the-dark humans of that planet was shattered with that very first culling. Entire populations were wiped out. Atlantis was a beacon of light in the dark, one of the only remaining places of refuge for who and what remained of Earth. But the Wraith were never content, never relenting.

As he watched the pictures in his head play out he saw himself as she must have seen him as a child, as she had viewed him her entire life. And in her eyes he was a hero. She had looked up to him her entire life, following his example at every turn. She had grown up wanting to be exactly like him, doing exactly what he did. And she had.

She and Torren grew up surrounded by war. At an impossibly young age the children were thrown into the fighting. Torren proved just as gifted as Hope in extraordinary abilities and the two of them breezed through training and rose up through the thinning ranks of Earth's fighting forces quickly.

He watched them learn and grow together. He watched them engage in battles. He watched them fight the Wraith. And he watched them fall in love. They were two of the greatest soldiers fighting against the Wraith forces. They made the perfect team. The Wraith feared them in battle, ran from them on the battlefield. Their gifts were unmatched. But they were only two, helping to fight against a great and numerous enemy force.

Suddenly the pictures in his head stopped playing and he looked once again across the table and into his daughter's eyes. She was everything he'd hoped she would be and more. The life that she had lived, though filled with war, was extraordinary. She was extraordinary.

"That's all so incredible Hope," he said to her. "So what happened?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" she asked evasively.

"What happens in your timeline that made you travel here to change it all?"

"Earth being destroyed isn't enough of a reason?" she asked taking a sip at the straw bobbing in her milkshake.

"For me it would be, yes. But for you that happened years ago, when you were just a child. Earth is probably mostly just a memory for you. Your life here in the city, what you accomplished during the war, what you had with Torren, that was real. You coming here, helping us defeat the Wraith now, it will change everything, both the bad and the good. You're changing everything."

"That's what I'm counting on."

/

/

"You can't be serious," said Colonel Carter across the bridge. "You can't believe that we'd be stupid enough to awaken three hives for you and leave ourselves vulnerable to attack."

"You think I would double-cross you?" he asked feigning shock.

"It had crossed our minds once or twice," confirmed Ronon. "You have done it several times in the past."

"And here I was thinking we were building trust," he pouted as a response. "Did I not prove my allegiance with the coordinates I provided?"

"Practically getting one of our teams killed doesn't really count as helpful."

"I merely provided the information. What your people did with it and the result is not my concern or responsibility. You humans are like children, always getting yourselves into such trouble."

The bridge was silent as the command crew contemplated their next move.

"When did you even have time to build an army?" Ronon asked the Wraith.

Todd fixed his gaze on the man, a knowing smirk hinting at the edges of his mouth. "You didn't think I spent all my time just on that planet you found me on, did you?"

Ronon glared at him in answer.

"No, no. After my dear friend Sheppard left me on that planet I wasted no time in contacting the nearest Hive. It was only a matter of time before I found my former Lieutenant and made him pay dearly for his betrayal. Once that was out of the way I merely reclaimed what was rightfully mine."

"The Hives that Teyla helped you procure," said Ronon remembering. Two years ago Teyla had gone to the drastic measure of altering her appearance to that of a Wraith Queen in order to get a powerful group of Hives to follow Todd and hopefully get his agreement to undergo the gene therapy and end the Wraith feedings of Pegasus humans. After Todd double-crossed them and used the gene therapy on his Hive independently, the results were not very pleasant.

"I guess in a way you people really did me a great favor. Had you never infected me with that gene therapy of yours I wouldn't have sought out the Iratus Queen to feed on me and I never would have gained my new skills. They've proven quite useful over the past year. Thanks to you, I'm more powerful than even a Queen. My Wraith look to me for guidance, they follow my command without question. They are mine."

"Again, I'll ask the question," started Colonel Carter. "What makes you think we'll just hand them back over to you?"

"If you want to defeat the Queens, you really have no choice. And we're going to have to learn to trust one another."


	16. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

"Watch this," Hope said to Torren.

The older boy watched as the toy car he was racing against Hope's down the halls of the west pier suddenly stopped mid-race as the other continued on to the designated finish line.

"That's so not fair," he said rolling his eyes at her, his useless remote control clutched in his hands.

"It's just as fair as you reading my thoughts when we play chess," she countered.

"Well you always let me in so easily. Your mind is always open to me."

"And you hardly ever let me in yours."

Torren's telepathic abilities had always been the stronger of the two of them. He came by them so much more naturally while Hope had to practice at honing her abilities. But she had multiple talents to explore and telepathy was not her favorite. Reading people's thoughts wasn't all it was cracked up to be. If she wasn't careful she heard more than she cared to. Everyone was an open book to her, everyone that is but Torren.

Torren smiled mischievously at her in answer. The two children were once again claiming the halls of the great city of Atlantis as their own. After completing their daily lessons they always had free reign. They had traveled to many wonderful worlds in their short years but this incredible city was all theirs.

"Do the thing," he told her. "You know you want to."

The girl smiled at him before she turned back to concentrate on the stranded toy car. A moment later the toy lifted into the air and floated slowly back toward the children.

"That never gets old," Torren said snatching the car out of the air in front of him.

"Do you feel that?" Hope asked Torren.

A moment after she asked the question Torren felt it too, a heavy presence in his head. It was a gift passed down through their lineage, rare among Torren's people and even more unusual for Hope's, but the two children were decidedly special. And the overwhelming presence they both now felt overcome them could only mean one thing; the Wraith were coming.

In an instant the children took off headed for the gateroom to warn the adults. This was big. This place was supposed to be safe. They were not supposed to sense the Wraith here. They had not sensed them while in the city since leaving Pegasus nineteen months ago. Somehow the Wraith had finally accomplished what they'd set out to do fifteen years ago; they had found the location of Earth. They finally made it to their promised plentiful feeding ground.

"Whoa, what's the hurry Kid?" her father asked as the children nearly collided into him on their way into the gateroom as he was leaving.

Hope and Torren took a moment to catch their breath.

"The Wraith," she gasped.

"What about them?" the Colonel asked them, his eyes narrowed and his brow furrowed.

"They're coming," Torren spat out.

He looked from one to other of the children with a calculating gaze. The children had never been wrong about their extra senses in the past. He turned from the boy Torren and looked into the face of his daughter and saw her nod to him beseechingly. She reached out to him and grabbed his hand in hers and used her gifts to connect with him. And then he heard it as she did. Thousands of minds connected in an instant with his. It shook him to his very core. John turned quickly from the children and hustled the distance to the control room, the two children quick on his heels.

"What's going on?" Rodney asked as the Colonel stormed into the room making a beeline for the command terminal, the children still trailing behind him.

Without answering Sheppard leaned over Chuck's shoulder and pointed to the monitor at his terminal. "Bring up our long-range sensors," he ordered the man.

Chuck typed in a few commands at his terminal and a second later the screen blinked to life. "Oh my God," he breathed once he saw it.

John looked from the screen to the children once again. The lives they knew here in the city were about to change drastically and forever. He had shielded them here on Atlantis for as long as he could. The Wraith here in the Milky Way was a game changer. There was no telling what the future had in store for them now.

"Anyone want to clue me in?" Rodney asked. With still no response from the peanut gallery, Rodney made his way over to the group and saw it for himself. He understood why they were lost for words. Dozens of Wraith Hive ships were at the edge of the galaxy. And they were all headed straight for Earth.

"Jesus," Rodney breathed.

"Dial the gate back to Earth," the Colonel ordered. "We need to warn them."

"I'm not sure what good that'll do. There's too many of them Sheppard," Rodney argued.

"Between this city and the ships we have in range we can at least fight them off long enough to buy them time to evacuate."

"Eight billion people?" Chuck asked.

"We have to try!" John yelled. He turned to the children. "You two shouldn't be here. Head back home. Hope, stay with Torren and Kanaan. I'll come and get you as soon as I can."

"But Dad," Hope said trying to change his mind. She wanted so badly to stay and help.

"No buts Hope. This is no place for you kids right now. So get going."

With a sigh the children turned and headed out of the control room, headed for the residential section of the city.

"What are we going to do now?" Torren asked as they walked.

"You heard what my dad said. We're just children. They won't let us do anything."

"So what about Earth?" he asked her. "What can you see?" He wasn't asking about her eyesight when he asked the question.

"I can see many different futures. But in every one of them I see Earth crippled and powerless against the Wraith. Millions of people will die."

As much as she loved this city, she still loved Earth. Summers spent at her Uncle David's house, with her cousin Derek, at the lake by the family home. Sundays with her father exploring a different wonder of that blue globe. All of that would be gone soon. The Wraith would take all of that away. As powerful as she and Torren were now, they were not yet up to the task of taking on an army of Wraith. One day they would be a formidable force, she could see that in her glimpses of the future. But by then it would be too late to save Earth.

/

/

/

"This is absolutely amazing," John heard Rodney squeal as he entered the man's lab.

"I take it the schematics pulled from Hope's doohickey are proving useful," John said looking to Zalenka as he crouched over one of the many computer terminals inside of Rodney's lab.

"You take it right," informed the man. "There's tons of useful data here. Our biggest problem now is just trying to figure out where to begin."

Rodney walked up to John. "Did you know that Hope designed and built that scanner on her own. She has several other designs that she's shared with us. She's incredibly brilliant Sheppard." He looked up at him pointedly then. "You're sure she's yours right?"

"You know I still have my gun on me right Rodney?" the man responded.

"Whatever," he said turning away. "She must take after her mother, thank God."

"Thin ice Rodney," John said behind the man's back as he followed him deeper into the room. "Real thin ice." His hand hovered threateningly over his holstered nine millimeter.

Rodney cleared his throat uncomfortably and turned to finally change the subject. "All right, so the torpedoes that were scanned are what you would normally expect to find, five tons of death wrapped up in the Wraith's not so pretty packaging of slime and organic tissue."

"And?" John questioned impatiently.

Zalenka smartly jumped in to field the question. "And now we know exactly how to defend against it. Even better, there may be a way for us to prematurely activate them."

"And just how would we do that, and maybe even a better question, why would we?"

"The torpedoes operate on a distinct, but isolated Wraith frequency," offered Rodney. "Which we now have access to. If we can get close enough to one of their Hives we can activate the torpedoes while they're still onboard."

"That sounds too good to be true so I'm sensing there's some kind of catch."

"We'd have to get really close to activate the torpedoes," spilled Zalenka reluctantly.

"How close?" John asked, knowing he wasn't going to like the answer.

"Within about a hundred meters, give or take."

"And there it is. I knew there was a catch," John chimed.

"That's not even the bad part," said Rodney grabbing his laptop and moving back to the Colonel's side with it. He pulled up a simulation and began running it for him. "We've run dozens of these," he said explaining as the sim ran on the screen in front of them. "In every single one, none of our ships can outrun the blast radius."

John turned away from the explosive simulation on the screen and stared at Rodney. "So what you're really saying is you still kind of have nothing?"

"Pretty much," corroborated Zalenka.

"I'm glad we cleared that up."

Rodney turned in time to notice the irritated look that passed across John's face. "But we'll keep working on it," he said taking the laptop back to his station and getting back to work.

"Uh, for now Zalenka's going to have to do that on his own. Rodney, you're coming with me."

Rodney looked up from his work with confusion all over his face. "And where are we going?" he asked.

"We've gotta go see a Wraith about a ship."

"If you're talking about Todd I think I'll just opt out of this little field trip, thank you very much."

John closed the distance between them and closed the laptop with Rodney's nose practically still in it. "Not an option," he said grabbing the man's elbow and pulling him forcefully toward the door. "If I have to suffer then so do you. Let's go science guy."

"Really? A Bill Nye joke. You know I hate that guy."

/

/

Hope stood with her father's team in front of the city's gate as they watched it dial out. They were armed and dressed for an away mission and she was back to her old self and raring to get back out in the field. As the event horizon plumed out in front of them Major Lorne and his men entered the gateroom escorting Drs. Keller and Beckett.

"All right, let's get this bloody show on the road, shall we?" said Carson Beckett as he swung about a hundred pounds of supplies and equipment packed in a duffel over his shoulder.

"You sound mighty eager," remarked Rodney.

"To travel through a wormhole to help awaken hundreds of dangerous and deadly Wraith who will probably try to eat us the first chance they get? I'm bloody ecstatic," he deadpanned. "Are we ready?"

"Just waiting on you Doc," John Sheppard said moving toward the open gate.

Carson shook his head miserably as he followed. Even after all these years, he still hated gate travel. It was only a notch better than beaming technology. And that was also sadly on their itinerary for this trip. He liked all his molecules in their current state. He was sure that one of these days when he rematerialized on the other side some of his pieces wouldn't be put back in their right places.

"I still don't see why it's necessary for the both of us to go," he said as he and Jennifer stepped through the gate.

"This should be fun," John said whimsically to Hope as they stepped through the event horizon after them.

"Colonel Sheppard," said a Lieutenant from the General Hammond in greeting on the other side as the group crowded around him. "The ship is in orbit. Everyone is awaiting your arrival, sir."

John nodded. "Well let's not keep them waiting any longer Lieutenant."

With a nod the Lieutenant activated his com. "Lieutenant Hedlund to the Hammond. We're all present and accounted for and ready to beam up."

"Copy that," came a responding voice. "Initiating transport."

Without another word they were beamed onboard the General Hammond and standing on the bridge in front of the ship's commander.

"Colonel Sheppard, welcome back," said Colonel Samantha Carter.

John nodded again. "Thanks. I hear you've got a bit of a Wraith situation."

She gestured toward the exit and the newly arrived group followed her out. "That Todd friend of yours is quite the character. Your old mission briefs don't do him justice," she said as they marched through the halls of her ship.

"He's the kind you don't believe until you've seen them for yourself."

"This decision to team up with him again, put an army of Wraith back under his control, are we entirely sure that it's the right call?" Carter asked.

"Oh I'm fairly sure it's something that's going to come back around and bite us in the ass," Rodney piped in. "But seeing as we don't have much of a choice at this point….."

"Todd is definitely not to be trusted," offered Teyla.

John turned to Hope then. "But she says this is the way to go, and I trust her."

Colonel Carter turned her eyes to Hope. "I hope you're right about this and the future you're steering us to is better than the one you came from."

Hope nodded. "My mission is saving Earth. I will not fail in that. I promise you."

"And Todd?" The question was on everyone's mind.

"I can handle Todd," she said before heading into the room where they were keeping the Wraith Commander.

"Thank God you guys are here," said Ronon with obvious relief as they walked in. He stood from his perch in the far corner of the room, as far away as he could get from his new Wraith friend stuck in the small room with him.

"Come on Chewy," started John. "You know you had fun."

Ronon rolled his eyes. "I still don't understand why I had to be the one to babysit him."

"Because you're so personable," Rodney answered him smartly.

"Ah, my old friend Colonel Sheppard," Todd said once he saw them from his vantage point behind the four armed marines guarding him. "Finally. Why have you stayed away so long? I've missed our times together."

"You've always played it fast and loose with that 'friend' word there Todd," Sheppard said. "All right, you've got us here, so now what?"

"So quickly to business? Not even a moment to catch up on old times. I was so looking forward to hearing how you've gotten on since you left me on that dead planet last year."

"I'm not in much of a sharing mood. And I've already heard all about your new bag of tricks."

"Oh but it's much better to see them for yourself." With that John and everyone else in the room crumpled to the deck clutching helplessly at their throats.

"What's…. happening?" John managed to screech out while trying to suck air into his lungs.

"I'm tricking your minds into believing all the oxygen has been sucked out of the room," Todd informed them almost giddily.

He blanched a moment later when Hope stood defiantly in front of him, seemingly unaffected by his power or influence. "Stop!" she commanded him and despite his best efforts to suck the life out of the humans his hold on them was completely lost.

He could feel the strange woman blocking his influence, shielding the others from him. He tried again, this time focusing on only the woman, but nothing he tried worked on her. Slowly, the others began picking themselves up off of the floor. Todd snatched his eyes away from the woman and looked back to Colonel John Sheppard. "Who is this woman?" he asked him.

Hope smiled across the distance at him as she fielded the question. "I'm the one who will end you if you try pulling something like that again," she told him.

"End me?" he questioned doubtfully. Despite her demonstrated talents he was still unconvinced.

In an instant he was overcome with the most excruciating pain he had ever experienced. It encompassed his entire being. "A taste of your own medicine," the woman said. Slowly, the pain began to ebb away.

Sheppard looked to him almost gloating, now fully recovered from the lack of oxygen. "She's here to keep you honest."

"It was merely a demonstration," he defended. He found himself in a very unusual position. Not since being locked away in Commander Kolya's prison had he felt so vulnerable. The woman had complete control over him. In all the power he had amassed, he was powerless against this single human woman.

"As was mine," responded Hope. "I'm stronger than you are. And I will not allow you to hurt these people anymore, you get me?"

Todd turned to Sheppard once again. "This one reminds me of you Sheppard. The same kind of spark. Why is that?" he asked. The room was silent and Todd's mouth curled into a wild grin. "That's very interesting. Very interesting indeed."

/

/

He was close, he could feel it. Atlantis was almost within reach. He and his Hives had ravaged every village on every planet in their path in order to secure their key to the elusive city, and now they had it. It was a simple numerical code transmitted through one of the Earth human's primitive hand-held devices.

Such a simple thing had kept the Wraith from Atlantis all of these years. It was almost unbelievable. But there were many things about the humans of Earth that were inexplicable to him. They were vastly different from any of the humans the Wraith had come across over the millennia here in Pegasus.

His Hives had been very busy these last few weeks. There had been so many worlds, so many human lives they had snatched away. He had enough life force flowing through him now to last him the next ten thousand years in hibernation. But he would still relish draining a few more, John Sheppard and his team to name a few. He owed them that at the very least for his time spent as their prisoner Charlie on that blasted city.

He input the address given to him into the DHD on Letarus. His Lieutenant handed him the key they had procured from the humans and he dialed the numerical sequence he had slowly tortured out of the leader of the Letarans. He waited a few moments for the signal that the shield on the other side had been dropped, but nothing happened.

"Commander?" questioned his Lieutenant.

"Human technology," he responded. "I can't tell if the thing's working or not," he admitted. He turned and motioned to his drones. "Go through and radio back once you're on the other side," he ordered.

The pair marched without question through the gate. There was never any return signal from the other side. His men were lost. Smashed by the still-active force-field guarding the gate on Atlantis. The Commander threw the useless human tech to the ground in frustration. How was it possible? He had come this far, done everything within his power to get here, and still he had failed in his mission. The key to the city of Atlantis did not work for them. It would never work for them. He would have to find another way to get his revenge and deliver the humans to his Queen.

/

/

"How exactly did you manage to put three Hives into hibernation all on your own?" Rodney asked Todd as he began interfacing his tablet with the Wraith systems of the Hive.

The away teams had divided themselves into teams and transported to each of the three Hive ships. Ronon, thankful to finally get away from Todd, had teamed up with Teyla, Dr. Beckett and Sergeant Perkins. Major Lorne and the rest of his team accompanied Dr. Keller, which left Rodney and the two Colonel Sheppards alone on their Hive with Todd.

"I thought only Queens could do that," John said finishing his friend's thoughts.

"Apparently that is no longer the case," answered Todd, not bothering to take his eyes off of his work to look at the man he was addressing.

"Really, that's all you've got?" Rodney said as he glared across the chamber at the Wraith Commander.

"Attribute it to my many new talents," Todd responded nonchalantly.

"I can't say that I'm much of a fan," said John as he absently clutched at his windpipe. The mere gesture was a small reward for Todd who couldn't contain his wicked grin.

"The Iratus Queen's venom is a hundred times more potent than any of her hive," Hope spoke up. "It's a miracle for any being to have survived a feeding from one." She made her way to the Wraith Commander and stared up into his deadly eyes. "Her venom pulsing through your veins is what is giving you your abilities, heightening your influences on others."

"All but one," he said glaring down on her. "Tell me, what exactly is pulsing through those veins of yours?" he asked.

John moved quickly across the room to step in between the two of them but thankfully the moment was interrupted by a hail from one of the other ships. "Lorne to Colonel Sheppard," John heard the crackle of the coms in his ear.

John looked to Hope and Todd with a warning in his glare. "You two need to learn to play nicely with one another. So cool your jets, we have a job to get done here." He turned and activated his com. "Go for Sheppard," he said answering the hail.

"We're all set over here, sir," Major Lorne said. "Everything's set up and ready, per both Todd's and Dr. McKay's instructions. Dr. Keller says this Hive's systems are good to go."

John nodded his approval. "Copy that. The other Hive has linked in as well." He motioned to Rodney and Todd to get the ball on this operation moving. "We're starting the transfer link now, so prepare."

He heard Jennifer's voice come in over the open com line. "Uh, for what exactly, Colonel?" she asked.

"To be surrounded by hundreds of waking Wraith," was his answer.

"Oh yeah, that. Thanks for the heads up. I have loads more confidence about this now," she said, and he could almost picture her rolling her eyes. "I distinctly remember that not going so well the last time we tried something like this with Todd. Remember that zombie Wraith hunt escapade."

Rodney activated his com. "Don't worry Jen. We have Todd's assurances that he has complete control over all three Hives with this neural link."

"And he will use that control to keep all of the Hives in line," helped Hope. "There is no danger. Isn't that right Todd?" she said turning to him, nearly gloating.

"My Hives answer to my command, and today my command is to fight alongside you and your little Coalition."

"Today?" John asked not missing a beat. Todd always chose his words carefully.

Todd nodded his head ever so slightly. "Today we are aligned on the same side. Tomorrow may be another story. We do not know exactly what the future has in store."

At that Hope could only smile to herself.

"Unless I am somehow mistaken," Todd continued once he noticed the glances passing between the humans.

"No, you're absolutely right Todd," John offered. "By tomorrow I might decide to put us all out of our misery and finally kill you."

"I know a few people who'd be happy for that day," mumbled Rodney in his corner as he finished inputting the final touches on the neural link commands.

Todd ignored Rodney's remark and grinned madly at John. "I really have missed this Sheppard."

"Yeah, me not so much," John said as Todd turned back to continue his work. The Wraith connected himself to the neural link.

"All right," Rodney said, the sounds of his fingers pecking on a keyboard. "The link is coming online as we speak."

As he said this the Hive they were standing in started to come alive. The lights came on one hundred percent brighter. The air became colder and the rooms began to fill with the normal levels of haze you would expect on a Wraith Hive. Slowly they could hear it as one by one the sleeping Wraith onboard the ship began to awaken from their slumber.

"Uh, Colonel?" came Jennifer Keller's worried cry over the still open com line.

"Yeah Doc?"

"I don't think I like this plan," she voiced.

At that moment, every human onboard the three Hives were feeling the very same way as the sleeping beasts came alive around them.

/

/

The Wraith Lieutenant fell lifeless to the deck of the Hive as the silver-haired Queen stared down at him with an unsatisfied grimace. There had been several other dead Wraith soldiers that had fallen at her hands before this one and still she was not satisfied. The humans had dealt them an immeasurable blow by destroying one of their largest weapons depots and she had been on a murderous streak since she'd heard the news. Her Wraith had made sure to steer clear of her for the past few hours for fear they might be the next victims of her wrath. As it was she was running out of men. She needed a new outlet for her anger.

She stormed out of her private chambers and made her way to the command hub of her Hive. "My Queen," her Commander bowed in respect and fear as she entered. "How may I serve you?" he asked.

"Find me the nearest human settlement," she commanded.

"Yes my Queen," he said giving the order to one of the Lieutenants.

"I feel like hunting something," the Queen said with a devilish grin as she seated herself in the only chair in the room.

"A hunt would serve the crew well, my Queen," said her Commander.

Her head shot around instantly to the speaker. "You've failed at the hunt I already charged you with," she hissed. "We are no closer to Atlantis now than we were when we started, only now they have destroyed one of our key facilities along with an entire supply of our reserve weapons."

"We still have several Hives out searching," he argued.

"Useless," she spat at him. "I am growing tired of waiting here for nothing to happen. It is time to take some action of my own."

"What do you mean, my Queen?"

"We've been trying to find Atlantis with no results. I think it's time we led Atlantis to us. There's no better way to do that than for us to do what we've always done best."

"The nearest human settlement is in the Segoba system," informed the Lieutenant from his station.

She shook her head, rejecting the proposed target. "Too small. For what I have planned we're going to need something much bigger."

She was going against the agreed upon strategy of the Queen council. They would not like the actions she was about to take. But she was a Wraith Queen, she took orders from no one, not even another Queen or even a room full of them. She would end this war her way.

A largely evil grin spread across her face as an ingenious idea came to her. "What are our old friends the Genii up to?"

/

/

"That still creeps the hell out of me," Lieutenant Jefferies said to Lieutenant Ayala as a quad of Wraith drones passed by them while they were walking down the corridor of the Hive.

"Tell me about it," Ayala responded. "I haven't been able to take my finger off of this trigger since they woke up," he said indicating his P90.

"How long do we have to stay on this Hive again?" his partner asked him.

"Until we get to the rendezvous with the Travelers and the Genii."

The Hives were all fully alive and buzzing now and had been that way for the last thirty-six hours. Once Todd had assembled his minions the Hives and the General Hammond had jumped into hyperspace and set a course for the coordinates provided to them by Commander Larrin of the Travelers. Unfortunately for the two Lieutenants, they were part of the group of humans who drew the short straw and were stuck spending the duration of the trip as guests of the Hive. They had already spent the last several days going back and forth in shifts between the three Hives and the Hammond. Needless to say they were both very much looking forward to arriving at their destination.

"What the hell was that?" Ayala asked as they felt the telltale vibrations of the ship. "Why are we coming out of hyperspace?"

"I don't know, but I'm pretty sure we're not going to like the answer," Jefferies responded.

The two men steeled themselves as they double-timed it through the corridors and to the command center of their Hive. "What's going on? Why are we dropping out of hyperspace?" Ayala asked one of Todd's Lieutenant's, nearly repeating the exact words he'd uttered less than a minute before.

"The Hive can't need to regenerate again already," chipped in Jefferies. "We stopped just a few hours ago for that."

"That is not the case. Your Earth vessel has received some sort of corrupted communication which they were unable to access while in hyperspace," he informed them.

"Why is that?" Ayala asked as he circled around the Wraith and turned to look over his shoulder at the console he was accessing.

The Wraith Lieutenant slowly turned his head to stare at him. "I do not know. I am not on your ship. I attribute it to your inferior technology."

Ayala narrowed his eyes at the Wraith while Jefferies did a poor job of covering up a smile. "You really didn't see that one coming, huh?"

/

/

"What the hell is taking you so long, Rodney?" John asked as he paced back and forth behind the man on the bridge of the Hammond. John had a sneaking suspicion that Hope would have already had it done, but unfortunately she was on one of the Hives keeping a close eye on Todd.

Rodney took a moment to stop his administrations on the operations console to address the impatient man. "I'm sorry, do you know how to reconstruct a corrupt, multi-fragmented, roving hexatrixillate data file?"

John stared across at him silently for a moment. "Be honest, you just strung a bunch of big words together to try and trip me up just then," he said smiling. Others on the bridge smiled with him and stifled their laughter. Most of them knew he was only pulling the other man's leg.

Rodney just stared back at him. "Thank you G.I. John for proving my point so brilliantly. I'm going to continue working now if you don't mind." The crew waited impatiently while he finished his complicated decryption and was able to open up the communication file. "Got it!" he exclaimed triumphantly.

"Finally!" John said moving to gaze over Rodney's shoulder at the small monitor.

"The message was originally received by the Travelers while they were waiting for us at the rendezvous. Somehow they found a way to forward it to us and make sure that we were able to receive it while still in hyperspace," he explained as he pulled up the video. The men did not like what they saw on the screen once it began playing. "Holy crap," John said once he saw it.

"This isn't good," Rodney said.

"Care to enlighten the rest of us," said Colonel Carter from her station.

Rodney pulled his eyes away from the screen to take in the rest of the bridge. All eyes were staring at them expectantly. He turned back and typed in a few commands at his terminal. A few seconds later the video file began playing on the bridge's main viewscreen and all eyes turned from him to that.

The video was dark and grainy. The only light that filled the screen came from the explosions happening sporadically in the background. But from what they could make out, it was a video feed recorded straight from the Genii underground on the homeworld. After a few moments a face filled the screen.

"We don't know how long we have," said the uniformed man on the screen. "The Wraith are here. Most of us are holed up in our underground bunkers that the Wraith thankfully haven't discovered yet, but it's only a matter of time. A strong contingent of our armed forces are engaged with the Travelers and we've found ourselves severely outmanned and more defenseless than we've been in the last three hundred years. I'm sending this distress message out on all frequencies hoping to reach one of our allies in time. If you're seeing this message, please send help. We don't-" there was another explosion in the background cutting off the man's message and the screen was filled with a few seconds of white noise before the feed finally cut out.

"If the Travelers sent that to us, they must already be on their way to the Genii Homeworld," John said.

"And they have no idea what they're heading into," Rodney breathed.

"We're closer to the Genii homeworld than the rendezvous with them. If we hurry we can beat them there before they're all slaughtered," John offered.

Colonel Carter was out of her seat in a flash. She turned to the Major at the helm. "Find the nearest gate so we can contact Atlantis. Inform the Hives of the change of plans. We're going to be headed straight for the Genii homeworld. All hands prepare for battle."

/

/

"That is one of the Queens' fleets," Todd informed over the open communications channel to the bridge of the General Hammond. Their own party had dropped out of hyperspace just a few minutes ago within scanning range of the Genii homeworld. There were several Wraith Hives hovering in orbit of the large globe, far more than they had expected. Even with the aid of the Traveler ships still on their way to the new rendezvous, it would be tough to defeat them all.

"Are you telling us that one of the Wraith Queens is onboard one of those Hives?" asked John.

"A fleet goes nowhere without its Queen," Todd confirmed with a nod that they were all able to see on their respective viewscreens. "This many Hives in one formation, there is no doubt a Queen is among them."

"That's just great," complained Rodney. "Of all the Wraith to attack the Genii, it had to be a Queen and her horde of Hives."

"This is good," voiced Hope as she stood beside Todd in the command center of his Hive.

All heads swiveled to her. "What's that now?" asked John.

"There are only a handful of Queens that still remain. They are the charge of this entire vendetta against the galaxy. But they have always been the most elusive of enemies. Now you have the chance to eliminate one."

"How? We're outmanned four to one," Colonel Carter spoke up.

"And we don't even know which Hive the Queen is on," John offered.

"That is simple," Todd piped in. "She is in the Hive all the others are protecting," he said matter-of-factly.

John glared through the video channel at the Wraith. "Okay. How exactly do we get through all of them? Colonel Carter is right. We're outmatched, even when the Travelers get here. There's just too many of them."

"I may have a solution to that," Hope said.

"You're as brilliant as your mother at this, you know," Rodney breathed a few minutes later once Hope had laid out her plans to them all regarding the Wraith Queen and the perfect way to infiltrate her Hive while stopping the Wraith assault on the Genii homeworld.

"Okay, so we're all in agreement then?" John asked looking to the faces around him. Everyone nodded. "Alright, let's go pick a fight with a Queen then."


	17. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

It was in the third month of her family's sentence in the small dwarf galaxy that ten year old Kala found the place that would become her refuge. Her father was a scientist, her mother a doctor. They traveled wherever their work took them. And this time it had dragged them all the way out here to the middle of hell. Their people here were in the midst of a great war with a powerful enemy and her family had been called upon to lend their expertise in their respective fields to the cause. Which left Kala and her younger sister Chanis far away from anything they would call home until the war was over or their parents were reassigned, whichever of those came first.

The ruins she and her sister stumbled upon were centuries old and still beautifully preserved. They were on one of the planets their father had been sent to survey. He'd let them tag along only after they'd incessantly begged him for hours on end to finally leave the floating city where they were based and explore one of the many planets that lay waiting for them through the Stargate. They had always fancied themselves explorers, uncovering all the secrets of every base their parents' jobs found them in. After weeks of only being on Atlantis and already knowing every dark corner it held, they were anxious to finally have a new adventure.

The military contingent had already cleared and secured the planet, which is why their father had no qualms about them venturing off to explore on their own while he continued his work. They were at least a couple of miles away from camp when they finally stumbled upon it. They played for hours that first day until the sun went down and the hail from their father came for them over their communicators telling them it was time to head back through the gate and return home to Atlantis.

They spent countless hours on multiple trips back and forth through the gate exploring every inch of the vast ruins. But there were other adventures to be had on other planets in the galaxy and once they discovered them Chanis soon forgot about their first exploration. But over the years Kala often found herself returning alone to reminisce. It was on one such solo venture that she discovered the underground. By then her abilities had started to manifest.

They started out as dreams but she soon realized that what she saw in her dreams were eventually happening in real life. She saw herself finding and exploring the underground caverns beneath her treasured ruins, and then the next day she found herself travelling through the gate and going in search of those very caverns. She found them exactly as she had in her dream and soon realized that it hadn't been a dream at all.

She never told Chanis about the caverns under the ruins but had shared the secret of her gift with her sister and the two of them had an entirely new set of adventures exploring wherever her visions took them. They started out small at first, with her only getting small glimpses of a few hours or days into the future. But they started to expand as she grew older. And what she started to see then, she didn't tell even Chanis. Instead she confided only to the walls of her private lair.

She saw visions of the past as if she had been there firsthand to witness them herself. She saw glimpses into the future too. She saw how the battle with their enemy would end for them. Soon their people would be forced to abandon this galaxy and their fight. But none of that concerned her as much as what she saw of her sister's future, which is why she kept it all to herself.

The future she saw in her visions was too important to risk jeopardizing. In order for things to play out the way they were supposed to it was imperative that Chanis never learned what part she would play in it. No, with the things she saw, no one could be her confidant. Only these walls could be trusted to keep her secrets. But now she had to leave them behind.

"There you are," Chanis' voice called out to her as Kala emerged from the woods. She was leaving behind their treasured ruins for the last time as she walked to the clearing in front of the Stargate where her sister had apparently been waiting for her. "The last transport will be leaving soon," Chanis reminded her.

"I know. I just had to see it one last time," Kala said, daring to glance behind her to the woods and what she was leaving behind.

"We had lots of great adventures here, didn't we?" Chanis asked as she wrapped her arms around her older sister's shoulder and guided her toward the gate.

"Yes. I'll miss this place very much."

"Who knows. Maybe one day we might be able to return," Chanis offered.

Another of her visions was coming to pass. Their people were giving up the fight against the Wraith enemy. In another few hours they would abandon this galaxy altogether. There would be no return for any of them, Kala knew. Chanis was the only one of them who would get to see this place again.

Kala moved slowly to the DHD and dialed the Stargate back to Atlantis. As the sisters walked through the portal Kala thought about her writings in the cave. She didn't know it when she'd started them, but she had written them for her sister. They were a key to the secrets that one day Chanis would unlock.

/

/

/

"Are you ready for this, Kid?" John asked Hope as he settled into the cockpit of the Wraith dart on loan to him from one of Todd's Hives.

"Are you kidding? I've been flying since I was eight," she responded from the cockpit of the twin dart sitting beside his in the hangar bay of the Hammond.

"Eight?" he questioned.

"What can I say, I had awesome parenting," she smiled.

"Well, that's comforting," he mumbled to himself as he strapped himself in and prepped the dart for the mission.

"Colonel Sheppard, come in," came Carter's voice over the coms.

The two Colonel Sheppard's eyed each other from their respective cockpits. A large grin spread across Hope's face. "I'm pretty sure she means you," she told him. "I told them to call me Hope."

"Go for Sheppard," he said answering the hail.

"We're about to make the jump. We won't have much of a window here."

"Copy that Colonel. We're ready when you are."

/

"All right," Colonel Carter said to her helm officer as she stood behind him on the bridge. "Make the jump," she commanded with a nod of her head.

The ship jumped into orbit over the Genii homeworld and immediately came under fire from the Wraith hives. "Shields holding at ninety-seven percent, Colonel," informed her operations officer.

"Return fire," she ordered. "What's the status of our transports?" she asked.

"The first wave is on the surface."

"What about the rest?" she asked.

"Sending wave two now, sir. With the fire we're taking from the Hives we may not have enough time to beam them all back."

"Deploy our 302s," she ordered. "Maybe they can buy us the time that we need."

The ship shook as they were rocked by another blast. "Shields at ninety percent," she was informed.

"Those modifications Hope made are really coming in handy," she muttered to herself. With their normal shields, taking the amount of bombardment they were from the swarm of hives they would have already been dead in the water. With the upgrades, they might actually have a chance at pulling this thing off. "What's the status of the Hives?" she asked.

"We haven't been able to touch the Queen's hive at all. The other hives are protecting hers. They've only sustained minimal damage."

"Let's hope our teams on the ground are having better luck than we are." She turned to her Ops officer again. "Speaking of which, show me how they're doing," she said nodding to the viewscreen.

As another torpedo collided with the Hammond's shield a topographical view of the Genii settlement came on screen. The positions of their teams on the ground were marked with red dots, a signal from their subdermal transponders. Some of them had made it to the underground bunker, others were engaging with the Wraith assault forces, trying to buy the others the time that they needed to evacuate the surviving Genii.

It was impossible to beam anything or anyone out of there without a signal. There were thousands of Genii down there without transponders. They had designed a tech that would enable them to transport large groups of untagged, the only catch was that their teams on the ground would have to ping the entire underground so that the ship's sensors could get a clear lock on everyone inside. That would take some time.

/

Teyla, Rodney and Ronon moved through the Genii underground with caution alongside Major Lorne and his team. They had made it through the throng of Wraith warriors outside to the hidden entrance of the bunker and were ready to place their wide range transceivers throughout the vast underground but they had yet to come across any of the Genii survivors. The village overhead was still under assault and the men found it difficult to maintain their focus as well as their footing as the structure shook with the bombardment above by the Wraith.

"Will they ever stop," asked Rodney nervously as they cleared another empty chamber, his hands clenched tightly around the grip of his P90.

"Don't wuss out on us now Rodney," grunted Ronon a few steps behind him at the rear of the group.

"I'm with him," voiced Jefferies, indicating Rodney McKay. "It's a bit distracting." He eyed the trembling structure overhead warily.

"Stay focused," Major Lorne ordered from the front. "Colonel Sheppard and Hope and the others are doing what they can to buy us the time that we need to complete our mission. Stay in the game, Jefferies."

"Yes, sir."

They continued on a few more minutes until they finally found a group of Genii officers who were holed up in an outer compartment the rescue teams assumed led into the main chamber.

"Atlantis?" gasped the Genii at the head of the group, relief evident in his voice at seeing the familiar uniforms of the expedition. Lorne nodded his head. "Thank the Ancestors," the Genii Lieutenant breathed almost absently in prayer.

"Or you could just thank us," said Rodney. "Since, you know, we're the ones who are actually here."

The Genii eyed the group of them warily. "It's just the six of you?" asked one of the females.

"Don't worry," said Lorne. "We brought back up." As if to undermine his point, the entire structure shook uncontrollably, knocking some of them to the ground as another volley hit overhead.

"They are getting closer to the compound," said Teyla, shaking the fallen dust out of her hair.

"Please tell me you have some kind of a plan to get us out of here," said the Genii Lieutenant as he helped his fallen people back to their feet.

"Of course," Lorne said pushing through the group to get to the hatch behind them.

"How big is this place exactly?" Ronon asked as he and Major Lorne opened up the door and their eyes gazed upon what lay behind it.

They never really got an accurate square-footage on their previous 'tours' of the underground when they had occasion to visit the Genii. But a response from the Genii Lieutenant was not necessary once the hatch to the chamber was opened. It was massive. Lorne turned back to the Genii and his people.

"That is larger than expected," said Teyla gazing behind the backs of the men into the chamber.

Lorne nodded his agreement. "We're going to have to split up," he told them. He looked to the Genii Lieutenant in charge. "Can your people show us around?" he asked them a moment before turning to Rodney and gesturing to the man who moved to pull the pack off of his back.

Rodney dug inside of it and pulled out one of the many wide-range transceivers they had packed with them. "We need to place these around the entire compound," Rodney explained to them. "It's going to be your ticket out of here."

"And we need to do it fast before our ship's shield fails," Lorne finished.

The compound shook once more around them. "And I'm guessing that's not going to be a long way off," voiced Ayala.

/

"Why haven't we destroyed them yet?" questioned the silver-haired Queen venomously as she shot out of her chair in her Hive's command center, her eyes fixed on the firefight transmitting to her over her monitor. She had five Hives firing a constant bombardment of torpedoes on the human ship and still they had not been blown out of the sky. She was losing darts and soldiers on the ground with every minute the human ship remained in one piece.

"I do not know, my Queen," answered her Commander. "It appears they have made some modifications to their shields."

Her eyes shot to the Wraith male, all her wrath, irritation and frustration focused in that single look. "You're incompetence is staggering," she said to him, utterly disgusted with her entire swarm of Hives and the army they contained. "Have our Hives fire everything they have at them," she ordered. "I want them all dead."

"Yes," he said typing in the commands on his terminal. "My Queen," he alerted a few seconds later. "There are more ships approaching our position."

"More of theirs?" she questioned.

"No," he answered double checking his sensors. "They are Hives."

She smiled at the three Hives that suddenly appeared on her screen and her brow arched with wild curiosity as the Hives joined in the fight, targeting the human ship.

/

"Shields have fallen to forty percent," came the update from Major Casey at the Operations station. "With the firepower from the added Hives, we won't be able to sustain much longer."

"What's our timetable?" Colonel Carter asked looking to the man.

"If the Wraith maintain this rate of firepower," he said doing the calculations, "we've got a maximum of eight minutes before the entire shield collapses."

Carter nodded from her seat on the bridge. "Transport wave three to positions," she ordered. "What's the status of our teams' progress on the ground?" she asked.

Her Operations officer was busy typing in commands on his console. "We have a reading from roughly three-quarters of the underground structure," he answered. "Our teams still need to lay down a few more transceivers before we can get a reading on the entire compound."

"Start transporting from the signals we're already getting," she said as the ship shook hard, the hardest it had since this firefight had started. Todd and his Hives were making their attack on the Hammond a little too convincing. She typed in a few commands on her command console and opened a channel to her teams on the ground. "Major Lorne, this is Colonel Carter, come in."

"Yes, Colonel," came the man's disembodied voice in response.

"Todd and his Hives have come out of hyperspace and are putting on one hell of a show for the Queen. Which means you and your teams have to finish placing those transceivers inside of seven minutes before this mission fails."

"Copy that, Colonel. We'll make it," he promised.

"Once you've laid the final device, activate it and then double time it to your secondary position. Hope will be locking on to your signal and should meet you there."

"Copy that," he said closing the channel.

Carter checked on the status of the dogfight between her deployed 302 fighters and the Wraith darts deployed in response from the Hives. Her fighters had done their job of distracting the Hives and buying them a few more precious minutes. Their fight was over. She looked back to Major Casey. "Recall our 302s. I want all heads accounted for before we jump to hyperspace. Keep a close eye on those transceiver signals and transport the rest of the Genii as soon as you have a lock." Her eyes moved to her helmsman. "As soon as we have them all, get us the hell out of here," she told him as the ship shook violently with another blast hit.

/

John banked the dart left just in time to avoid the drone fired from the puddle-jumper still on his six and watched as the Ancient weapon made contact with a structure on the surface below and erupted in flames. He activated his com.

"Hey Perkins, it's only supposed to _**look**_ like you're trying to shoot me down. You're not actually supposed to do it though."

A snicker came back over the other end of the line. "Sorry Colonel. Just trying to make it convincing."

"A little too convincing, I'd say," Sheppard muttered.

"Looked good to me," Hope agreed over the open line.

"Traitor," John accused playfully as he maneuvered his dart through a tight spot between two buildings still miraculously left standing.

The other darts flying around them were circling the village, making sure they hadn't missed any stragglers on the surface below. The Wraith were trying to guarantee the complete and total destruction of the Genii people. They were all doing their best to ensure that didn't happen. He and Hope had been using the cover of the darts they were piloting to help their accompanying puddle-jumpers destroy the Wraith with the Ancient drones. They had taken out almost a dozen enemy darts.

"All right Colonel," came the other jumper pilot's voice over the line. "We just got the call from the Hammond. You guys are on your own now, we're bugging out."

"Copy that, Szmanda," John answered as Hope's dart lined up on his right wing. "Thanks for the help."

The two puddle-jumpers pulled up from the surface and began making the ascent heading back up to the General Hammond. "Good luck," was Captain Szmanda's parting remark. They were going to need it to pull off the next part of the plan.

John reactivated his com and called up to the ship in orbit. "Sheppard," came Colonel Carter's voice in his earpiece.

"Yeah Carter, we just lost our wingmen," he told her. "Is it about that time?"

"I'm afraid so John," she confirmed on the other end. "We have the Genii and are recalling the 302s and the jumpers so we can jump into hyperspace before our shield finally gives out. So you guys will officially be on your own in about two minutes."

"Copy that Colonel," he answered turning in his cockpit to look over to Hope's dart. He could almost see her clearly through the tinted glass of both cockpits. "Hope, where are our teams?" he asked her.

She checked the signals on her scanner and saw that their people were making their way through the underground and back to the entrance of the bunker. "They're approaching the rendezvous now," she informed.

John nodded. "All right Carter. We're on approach and ready for the next stage," he said as he and Hope adjusted their flight course to head to the meeting point to pick up their teams on the ground.

"Good luck Sheppards," was Carter's parting remark.

"Thanks. See you guys on the other side," John said closing the channel. "All right Kid," he said looking again to Hope. "Time for the hard part of this brilliant plan of yours," he said.

"Are you kidding? This is going to be cake," she said picking up speed in her aircraft.

The two pilots cut through the air side by side at Mach ten. They wove gracefully through the dozens of darts circling haphazardly around them. Hope rechecked the signals from her teams' subdermal transponders before she hailed them on her com. "Rodney, Lorne, you guys are running late again."

"Yeah, well the Genii underground was a bit bigger than we had anticipated," came Rodney's voice a few beats later, sounding just a bit winded as they sprinted through the halls of the bunker.

"We're coming into position now," said Hope.

"We're only going to get one shot at this," offered John. "If we miss it the Wraith might get you guys instead."

"Always with the perfect motivational words, Sheppard," Rodney said sarcastically.

"We're coming up on the exit now, Colonel," informed Major Lorne.

"All right," answered Hope. "We're about to make the pass over the bunker."

As the darts made their approach to the rendezvous coordinates Hope could see the teams emerge from the entrance to the underground. But life moving around on the ground was too much of a good target to pass up. Any enemy Wraith dart within range could sweep them up at any second if they were detected. Timing was everything. The people on the ground divided into their two separate teams as Hope piloted her dart directly overhead and activated the beaming tech onboard. As she passed by the beam of her dart caught Major Lorne and his team in its wake and their bio patterns were instantly stored in the craft's buffer. A split second after Hope's dart jetted past, John's zoomed in and swept up his team and the two darts ascended into the stratosphere.

/

"Where have they gone?" the Queen barked as the human ship disappeared into hyperspace.

"I do not know. They jumped into hyperspace. We cannot track them," informed her Commander.

She was furious. They almost had the humans. How was it that they lost every advantage they had over the lesser beings? For over ten thousand years they had ruled this galaxy, put the fear of God into the humans across all the planets within. These humans of Earth had come and in less than ten years had disturbed the balance, ruined the great thing the Wraith had going for them here.

"Have all the Hives recall our dart fighters," she ordered.

"But my Queen, what about the remaining Genii on the surface?"

"There is no one left on the surface. The humans wouldn't have left if there were," she answered. She knew their code. They seemed to care nothing of self-preservation and would gladly sacrifice many to save only a few, which they'd done time and time again over the years. They would not have left here if they hadn't saved who they'd come to save. "Hail the Hives that came to offer us aid," she commanded.

"How may we be of further service to you my Queen?" asked the Wraith Commander who greeted her on the other end.

She stared back at the face on her screen. It was one she did not recognize. "I would thank you for your assistance, but I don't know who to thank. Who is your Queen?"

"Sad to say we are without a Queen. We were under the protection of the Primary, but we have not heard from her in quite some time."

"Yes, I'm afraid the rumors about her might well be true," she confirmed. "Tell me, how is it that you happened upon us?" she asked, if not a bit suspiciously.

"We intercepted a distress call from the Genii planet. We came to join in on the fun," he said as a wicked grin spread across his face onscreen.

"As a token of my gratitude, I will allow your Hives to fall under my protection."

"It would be an honor, my Queen," he said bowing humbly.

/

John and Hope waited patiently in the cockpits of their darts as they sat in the hangar bay of the Wraith Queen's hive. It took several minutes for the Wraith to disembark their own recalled darts and exit the bay. Once they were sure that the coast was clear they engaged their thrusters and lifted their crafts in the air as high as the bay allowed before they activated the transporter beams and reversed the pattern buffers. With one sweep of their beams, their teams were with them in the bay.

"Well, that was fun," Hope said as she slid the glass back from her dart and jumped down from the cockpit.

"I'm just glad it worked," John said mirroring her actions.

"Yeah, me too," said Rodney. "Even still, remind me never to do that again," he said shaking off the heebie-jeebies. Every time his pattern was stored in one of those things he felt the oddest of sensations. It was definitely one of his least favorite things about the Pegasus galaxy, right up there with being Wraith food.

"Shut up Rodney," John said as he donned his gear and ammo he'd stored in the dart.

"I seriously can't be the only one who feels this way," Rodney muttered to dirty looks from the others.

"We managed to get here," began Major Lorne. "Now what's the plan?"

"Well, we need to get to the Queen," said Hope loading her P90.

"And we're going to have to go through the entire Hive to do it," said John.

"I like the sound of that," Ronon said spinning his pistol.

"Well you'd be the only one," retorted Rodney.

"Sorry to burst your bubble buddy, but we're going to have to do this with some stealth Chewy," John added eyeing the man warningly.

Teyla smirked at the scowl that crossed Ronon's face. "I am sure you will get plenty of opportunity to shoot something."

"All right people, let's consider this a dry run," John said turning to them all. "We defeat this Queen, we've got a shot at getting the rest."

"Well when you put it that way," Lorne said.

"Yeah, sounds like a frickin' picnic," picked up Jefferies as the group headed off.

They moved through the halls of the Hive with caution and stealth. They were using Hope's and Teyla's extra senses to lead them toward the Queen, hoping they ran into as few Wraith on their way as possible. Todd was supposed to be doing his best to be keeping them all distracted, but there was no telling how long they actually had to pull this plan of theirs off.

The Travelers would arrive soon, and when they did the Hammond would jump back into range, hopefully with repaired shields, to lend their hand in battle once more. Once that happened the teams would only have minutes to wrap up their business on the Hive and make their escape or run the risk of the Queen and her Hives getting the upper hand in battle and destroying their forces.

Teyla and Hope, in the lead of the teams, stopped their progress down the corridor simultaneously and signaled to the teams behind them. There were Wraith approaching.

"How many?" John mouthed to them.

The women probed the minds of the Wraith in their way. There were three drones in the next chamber blocking their path to the Wraith Queen. They relayed the information to their teams.

Hope looked to Teyla. "Time to put our lessons to use Teyla. I need you to focus and link to one of the drones. Use him to disable the others."

"I am not sure that I am strong enough yet," the other woman tried to argue.

Hope was having none of it. "In my time I've seen you do it a thousand times. There is no difference between my Teyla's abilities and yours. Trust me, you've got this. Just concentrate."

Teyla searched the eyes of the woman before nodding her head and turning her full attention to the minds in the next chamber. She probed them, searching for the weakest. Finding her target, she pushed a little harder finding her way into his head until she had full control.

It was a unique experience, seeing the world through someone else's eyes. She was in the chamber, looking directly at the other two drones with her. She looked down to the hands that were now hers and saw that they were holding a stunner rifle. Dialing up the setting on hers, she aimed it at the drone on the right and fired. Before the drone on the left could react she turned and fired again.

She looked to the unconscious figures on the deck as she pondered what to do about the drone she inhabited. It took her only a moment to come to her solution and the idea gave her slight pause. She turned the rifle on herself and wondered just before pulling the trigger if her true body in the other chamber would feel the sensation of the impact.

An instant later she was back with her teams, her eyes locked once again on Hope. "They are down," she informed them and then proceeded to lead them into the chamber.

"Nice job," John said to Teyla as he stared down at the Wraith drones. Major Lorne, Hope and Lieutenant Ayala moved in to retrieve the fallen stunner rifles from their sides. "That little trick could definitely come in handy in the future," he mused.

"I believe Hope has already confirmed that it will," Teyla responded.

The teams moved until they came to the entrance to the central hub. Inside was their prize, the Queen, guarded by a room full of Wraith officers and drones. They took positions outside of the doors as Hope moved to disengage the locking mechanism on the wall.

John activated his com. "Carter, this is Sheppard. We're just outside of the Hive's bridge, about to make our move on the Queen. What's the status of the ship?"

"We've got our shields back up," came Colonel Carter's informative voice. "They're holding at seventy-five percent. And our sensors just picked up the Traveler ships approaching the planet."

"They might make it in time for the party after all," John said. "Keep a lock on our signals. We're going to want to hitch a ride out of here in a few minutes."

"Copy that. We're reading you guys loud and clear."

His men readied their weapons as he signaled to Hope. They had a general idea of the positions of the Wraith inside from Teyla and Hope and they had the element of surprise on their side. There was no way the Wraith knew that they were onboard the Hive. Their odds were pretty good. Hope released the doors and the teams went in firing. Four out of six of the soldiers went down instantly. The other two were on their teams in a flash as the silver-haired Wraith Queen leaped from her throne to join them.

Two Wraith soldiers and a Queen proved to be enough of a handful for the eight of them. One Wraith Lieutenant had Jefferies and Ayala pinned up against a wall with either hand after having disarmed them. The second soldier was keeping Lorne, Rodney and Teyla very busy, dodging some rounds from their P90s, taking others full-on until he knocked Teyla to the deck, shoved Rodney ten feet across the chamber and charged on Lorne.

The Queen was stronger and more formidable than her soldiers. She was on John and Hope before they even saw her coming. She dealt with Hope quickly, sensing that she was the bigger threat. Ronon managed to get off a few shots at her with his pistol before she grabbed it and tried to snatch it away from him. He wouldn't let go of his grip on it and wound up being thrown across the room with it. She rounded on John and raised her hand to feed and he thought that it all might be over for them.

The Hive rocked as a blast from outside collided with the hull. It was enough to help them all turn the tables on the Wraith. Jefferies and Ayala managed to free themselves from the hold of the Wraith pinning them. Lorne managed to dodge the Wraith gaining on him and grabbed a discarded stunner from the floor and fired it at him.

Hope used the distraction to tap into her power. She threw a small force-field around her father as the Queen's hand reached for his chest, giving him enough time to grab his P90 that had fallen at his side and shoot half a clip into her chest. Ronon had managed to pull himself back to his feet and shoot the Wraith still hovering over Ayala and Jefferies.

John and Hope stood over the Queen as she lay on the deck. The ten bullets in her chest had slowed her down but she was still very much alive. Their job now was to try and keep her that way for the foreseeable future. Rodney got to his feet, dusting himself off as he made his way to kneel beside the Queen. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a hypodermic he'd gotten from the Hammond's medical bay. He plunged it into her arm, injecting the subdermal transponder.

"That was much harder than advertised," Rodney said, rubbing his already sore neck.

John activated his com again as the ship shook once more. "Carter, we have the package. Please get us the hell out of here before we're blown to bits."

"Transporting now Sheppard," came the reply.

A moment later the teams and their captured Queen were transported off of the Hive and onto the General Hammond. Todd's Hives and the Traveler rescue party opened continuous fire on the entirety of the Queen's armada until there was nothing left.


	18. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

'Are you ready for this?' Hope heard Torren's voice in her head as the General made his speech. Their Academy class was finally graduating today. They were just minutes away from getting into the fight that had surrounded them their entire lives. They were finally going to get their chance to take on the Wraith themselves.

'Are you kidding?' she answered back. 'I've been waiting for this since I first stepped foot through the Stargate ten years ago.'

'Well, there's no turning back now…' he said as the General was wrapping up his commencement speech.

'Not a chance,' Hope responded. 'Now focus. Our part is coming up.'

With Hope determined to tune Torren out of her mind for the duration of the ceremony, the two turned their full attention back to the General standing at the podium as he was beginning to wrap up his speech. "You are the new generation of guardians, the new protectors of humanity. You are the brightest, the strongest, the best of us. You are our future."

The small crowd gathered into the gateroom of the city to witness the new class' ascension into the ranks of the elite started their applause. The General gathered up his speech and moved from behind the podium to stand in front of the class. His eyes found first Torren and then Hope for a meaningful glance before he focused back on the class as a whole. "Raise your right hand," he ordered them. They did as he asked and all raised their hands almost in unison. "Repeat after me."

Hope couldn't wipe the grin off of her face as she swore her oath.

"I, Hope Sheppard, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the United Confederates of Earth and its allies against all enemies and threats near and far; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will obey the orders of the Supreme Commander of the Union, that I make this obligation freely, without any mental reservations or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office of which I am about to serve, so help me God."

"Welcome, class of 2028." Three-star General John Sheppard raised his arm to salute the new officers he just had the privilege to swear in, his own daughter and a boy as close to a son to him as he would ever get, among them. "Our future is in your hands now. Godspeed."

The roars erupted throughout the room. Dozens of hats flew off of heads and into the air and Torren pulled Hope into his arms as they rained down around them. "We did it," he said before his lips found hers.

"Well, that's one way to celebrate, I guess," came John Sheppard's voice. "Though I'd really prefer you not do it right in front of me."

Torren pulled away from Hope quickly and came to stand at attention in front of the General. "I apologize General."

Hope narrowed her eyes on her father. "Don't act like you didn't already know about this, dad," she said to him as she forced Torren to ease.

"I did. But seeing it with my own eyes is another story," he said feigning discomfort.

Hope playfully rolled her eyes at him. "How about you just congratulate us already?" she said with a smile. "Even if you were against us joining up so soon."

With the progression of the war efforts and the dwindling of Earth forces the age of enlistment had recently been lowered. Both Torren and Hope had jumped eagerly at the opportunity. They had spent their entire lives up to that point training with the units on Atlantis, joining in on low-risk away missions, piloting jumpers for supply drops to refugee planets.

They had been ready for the Air Force before they'd even signed their names on the dotted line. But they were still children. Very gifted and experienced children, but children nonetheless. Hope had only just turned seventeen and Torren was only two years older. Before the war, neither would have been able to become officers for at least a few more years. But today they were.

Slowly, the smile spread across John's face to match his daughter's. "Congratulations. The two of you will do great things for the cause. And yes, even though it is entirely too soon for my liking, I'm very proud to see you wearing that uniform."

With his words the girl jumped into his arms for a grand hug. "Thanks dad," she said pulling away from him and looking into his eyes. "Your speech was great, by the way."

"The speech," he said wrapping his arm around her shoulder as the three of them moved through the room. "That part was easy. The hard part was remembering the word changing of the oath. A little bit different from the oath I remember swearing myself years ago," he said to she and Torren as they moved away from the group of new officers. "But that was a whole other time. And planet for that matter," he added as an afterthought.

They were millions of lightyears away from Earth now. After eight years of struggle against the Wraith enemy inside the Milky Way there was simply nothing left on Earth to save anymore. The remaining populace had been evacuated to the Alpha and Beta planets long ago. Humanity of old Earth were now scattered across many galaxies.

"Things haven't been going well out there, have they?" she asked him.

They had spent the last several months cooped up in Atlantis with Academy classes and training exercises, but the General had been away from the city for the last several weeks spearheading a military push through the new Wraith territory. Small human settlements on their outer territories were being hounded and attacked by the Wraith more and more frequently. No matter how many times the settlers fought them off or changed locations, the Wraith just kept on coming, always finding them wherever they hid.

Her father was now one of the key leaders of their people, one of only a handful of the military command forces left of old Earth. For the past seven years he'd had full command of Atlantis and protected the entire region of space that it occupied. And the Wraith had been keeping his forces very busy these last few weeks. It was the longest he had been away from the city since the Wraith had arrived to wreak havoc on the Milky Way, but he couldn't pass on the invitation to give the commencement speech at his own daughter's graduation ceremony from the Academy.

"No," he answered shaking his head sadly. "But let's not talk about that now. The two of you will see soon enough what we've been up against. Tonight let's just celebrate. And I know just who to invite to the party," he added spotting Teyla and Kanaan making their way through the crowd toward them.

"That was quite an experience," Teyla said.

"Yes, I'm sure I'll never quite get used to all these Earth rituals of yours," said Kanaan once he reached his son's side.

"Rituals? Father, it's more than that," Torren assured.

"You, son, did not let me finish," his father argued. Everyone in the small group looked to him expectantly. "What I was going to say-"

They never did learn how he was going to end that sentence because the alarms of the city started blaring and near bedlam broke out around them with all the civilians still gathered in the gateroom.

"One day," John yelled over the blaring noise. "Can we not get one day," he said as he began parting his way through the crowd to the stairs leading up to the control room. The rest of the group, minus Kanaan, was right on his heels.

He jogged into the city's control room skidding to a halt behind Chuck's station. He didn't even have to ask. "It's the Wraith, sir," reported the man. "They've found us."

"How many?" he asked as Teyla moved through the room to claim an Ops station.

"I'm reading two Hives in orbit and they're deploying darts."

The General nodded. Two Hives were not great, but it was a manageable situation for them. Though if they made it through this they would have to relocate the city again. "Go to Code Black and patch me into the city's coms."

Chuck typed in a few commands on his terminal and nodded to his superior when the line was open. "Attention Atlantis, this is General Sheppard. There are Wraith in orbit of the planet and the city is now in Code Black. It's been awhile but you all know the drill. All non-essential personnel and civilians are to head to the nearest secure locations in the city and stay put until the situation is resolved."

He took a deep, steadying breath before he continued. His next words would be for the scared civilians, not the trained military personnel. His next words would have to be enough for them to hold onto throughout this battle. They would have to keep them calm and help them to find courage. For some, his next words might be the difference between life and death. "Now I know many of you are scared and you have every right to be, but remember, this is Atlantis. This city has always protected us and today will be no different. We will make it through this just as we have in the past. We protect Atlantis and it will protect us. Stay calm and stay safe."

John motioned for Chuck to close the line and then looked over to Teyla. "Coordinate with the fleet," he ordered her. "I want all our 302s deployed against those incoming darts. I don't want anything making it through our shield." The woman nodded as she set about relaying the orders.

Hope and Torren had been standing on the edge of the room like flies on the wall. Sensing their opportunity they moved into the room toward the General. "Where do you want us, sir?" Hope asked the General, standing at full attention inches away.

He turned his eyes to the two new recruits. They were officers now. They had been training their entire lives for this. There would be no holding them back. His time of keeping them away from it all was over now. There was no keeping anyone away from this until the Wraith were stopped, and he knew the two in front of him would be the ones to help to see that outcome come to fruition.

"You've both aced your flight training. Report to the Hammond and claim a 302. Show the enemy why after all this time Atlantis still stands."

"Yes, sir," they saluted before they headed out of the room and into the fight.

/

/

/

"What is this?" the silver-haired Queen asked from behind the security of naquadah-enforced jail bars and an energy forcefield as John and his team walked into the brig.

"This is your home until the end of the war," John answered.

"You think this human prison can hold me, a Queen?" she asked.

"I know it can," answered Hope at the Colonel's side.

Hope deactivated the force field around the cell and disengaged the lock. With the worried eyes of her father's team on her she stepped into the brig with the Wraith Queen and Rodney moved to quickly seal it shut behind her.

"Isn't this a treat?" voiced the Queen. "The accommodations come with room service."

"Room service, that's cute," smiled Hope crossing her arms in front of her. "Tell me what else do you know of life on Earth?"

"Only what I can read in the feeble minds that inhabit this city," she said gesturing to the others in the room.

"Ah, so you know everyone here then. Tell me, how many Wraith minds can you sense are here in the city with you?"

"There are no Wraith minds here other than my own," she answered.

She noticed the smile that came across the woman's face and it angered her far more than it annoyed her. She rushed at the human woman but was thwarted by an unseen barrier. As she smacked into it she could see the static of energy flicker in the space between herself and her would-be prey. The obstacle only served to anger her more.

"What is this?" she questioned.

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you are wrong. Yours is not the only Wraith mind in this city. There are three here, and many more on Hives in orbit."

"You lie, human. I am a Queen. I can sense all Wraith in my range."

Hope circled slowly around the Queen whose eyes followed the entire length of her journey. From behind the safety of the naquadah bars the others watched the scene unfolding in front of them curiously.

"Why are you here?" the Queen asked her.

"Let's call it an experiment," Hope answered.

The Queen seethed at that. "Careful," piped in Rodney. "I don't think she likes you."

"I'm pretty sure she doesn't like anybody pal," said John as he elbowed the other man to keep him quiet.

They were supposed to be observing. They had to be sure that Hope's influence on the Queen was solid. For what they had planned they couldn't let Todd or his Hives know that she had survived the assault on her armada. They couldn't let Todd know their plans for any of the Queens. He would undoubtedly get in their way if he did. It was much safer for all involved if they were able to stay on the same side of things for the foreseeable future.

The Queen raised her hand between them cautiously until it met with a charged resistance. She pushed at it, testing the limits of the unseen barrier keeping her at bay. "You think you're clever hiding behind this Ancient technology," she growled.

"Oh, you misunderstand," said Hope. "This shield is up for your protection, not mine. Without it you might be tempted to do something that might bring you to harm. And right now you're far too valuable to us to let any harm come to you, my Queen."

The team could tell that Hope's statement caught the Queen by surprise. She hadn't expected to be addressed by her title from the meager human standing in front of her. But the juxtaposition between the woman's words and being held behind a force-field and behind bars herself was not lost on her either.

Her eyes moved to find the humans outside of her cage staring intently at them. Then they moved slowly back to the woman in front of her. The look she found in her eyes made her angrier than she had ever been before. That look was filled with pity and arrogance. No one had ever looked at her that way before, let alone a human.

In her anger she pushed harder at the energy field and it crackled beneath her hand. The harder she pushed against it the more shocks of lightning jolted through her system but through the blur of anger she didn't care. And as she wouldn't give up the intensity just grew and grew. With a pained growl she finally fell to the floor of the cell unconscious.

"What did I tell you?" said Rodney. His eyes roamed around the room, looking from one of his teammates to another. Finally they settled on John. "Didn't I tell you she just wouldn't be able to resist."

"Yeah, yeah. You win the bet Dr. Talky McSays-A-Lot," Sheppard responded as he moved to open the cell. As the door slid open Hope turned her eyes from the Queen on the floor to stare at her father. "Well Kid, you did warn her," he said taking a step into the cell with her.

"Yes, I did," Hope said sadly, turning back once again to stare down at the still Wraith Queen. "But they never really listen, do they?"

John smiled and shook his head as he tossed her an injector gun filled with a new batch of serum. Catching it she turned back to the Queen to kneel at her side. Fingering the gun, Hope reached over and plunged the needled end into the Wraith's neck, emptying its contents into the Queen's system.

"So where are we?" asked Rodney. "Is it going to work?"

"Will Todd and the other Wraith be able to sense her presence while she is here?" asked Teyla.

"No. I can keep her hidden," Hope assured them. "And in a few hours we'll know if this serum works on her. And then we can begin."

/

/

His Queen was not pleased. None of the Queens were with the latest news from their forces. The humans of Atlantis had hit an armada and a Queen was now dead. Their numbers were dwindling. They were losing the war and that was just not acceptable. Wraith did not lose.

"Ah," greeted his Queen with an uncharacteristic smile spread across her face as he walked through the doors into her chamber after being summoned. "Another disappointing return. Tell me, why have I still left you as my second if you can't even bring me Atlantis? What use is your time spent with them doing to further my cause?" As she said this she spun around to face him, her leather attire flowering out around her legs before she sat on her throne. "Why do you continue to fail me?" she questioned, her jet-black hair a veil across half her face, but even that could not hide her contempt.

He kneeled at her feet, his head bowed to the floor in shame. "The key to Atlantis is not just the numeric code on their primitive devices, my Queen. It is also tied to the genetic makeup of the humans who carry them. In Wraith hands the technology is useless, just as that of the Ancestors. We cannot get through the gate to the city without the right combination of both."

"So not only have the Humans taken out an entire Wraith fleet and its Queen, but we are still no closer to destroying them and their blasted city or finding Earth," she stated.

"Yes, my Queen."

"This is growing tiresome. Every advantage we have over them, none of it seems to matter. They thwart us at every turn. By all accounts they should have been exterminated by now and we should be culling their precious Earth. But we are here, bleeding losses. How is it that they are only growing stronger as we are growing weaker?"

He remained silent at his Queen's feet. He had no answers to give her. The Humans' newfound source of strength was a great mystery to all. They knew things that had been secret for millennia, things that even now only the highest ranking Wraith knew of, but somehow now the humans knew them too. They had more powerful weapons and stronger shields than they'd had even just a few weeks ago. Something had definitely changed to tip the balance in their favor.

He'd told his Queen what the humans had done to him while he was their captive. He'd told her of their plans for all Wraith, what they would turn them into if they had the chance. That news didn't go over well with any of the Hives. To lose their strength and power would be a fate worse than death for any Wraith.

For the first time perhaps ever, the Queens were scared. Suddenly they could see a glimpse into a future where their existence was no more. They might have to accept the realization that they might actually be defeated by the Humans. For beings such as them, it had been an absurd notion even when they were battling the Ancestors. But they were terrified now.

"We must end this," his Queen said. "I will not have us lose this war." She lowered her gaze to stare down at him. "Rise," she commanded. He did as she ordered and got back to his feet, daring to raise his eyes to her. "Go. Leave me. Assemble our forces. Have every Hive out there searching for Atlantis. I will coordinate with the other remaining Queens. There will be no rest until this is over, until we have what we want. We cannot allow this drug of theirs to be completed. The Humans and their city must be extinguished."

/

/

"So are we supposed to be seeing something different here?" John asked the group, his amused bafflement clearly evident in his tone.

They were all staring at the Asgard in their new bodies, but from what they could tell they were no different from the older models. They still had the same overly large head, elongated limbs and the small stature of a prepubescent human child. At the very least John had been expecting clothes to cover up, you know. But still there remained nothing to cover up. On the exterior there was absolutely no change from the old Asgard bodies to the new.

"Nope," answered Hope.

"So you've been working these past few weeks in that lab all so that you could do exactly nothing?" Sheppard asked smartly.

Hope smiled at the looks on all their faces. This was going to need a bit of explaining, even for Rodney. "Okay, so for right now all I've done is used the technology in the Replicator lab to re-sequence the Asgard genome back to before the start of the degradation of their cells caused by the cloning process. I used the new genome map to synthesize a new body which I then uploaded one of the stored Asgard consciouses into. Other than a few tweaks in the genetic code here and there, nothing else has changed. These bodies, like their predecessors, still have no reproductive organs. The Asgard will still have to reproduce the same way they have for the past millennia, by uploading their consciousness into these new modified bodies."

"And just why exactly did you build them this way?" Rodney asked.

"That was by request. The Asgard wanted them this way," she explained.

"So they want to continue to clone themselves?" asked Teyla.

"We know no other way," answered Soin. "We have been this way for so many generations it would suit us much better to stay as we are rather than to change into something we know not of."

"I'm sure Rodney gets that," Ronon remarked smartly. "He never changes either."

"And what exactly needs changing?" Rodney asked rhetorically.

"Well if you have to ask," Sheppard said, with a roll of his eyes and shrug of his shoulders, looking to Rodney.

"Everything," Ronon said in answer anyway. "Everything needs changing."

Sheppard looked to Ronon and nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah, pretty much what he said," he said sticking a thumb in the man's direction.

Hope smiled at the look that crossed Rodney's face. "I've provided the Asgard full specks on the lab specifications and uploaded the full genome resequencing codes into a crystal for them in case they change their minds about their reproductive methods in the future. But for now, you're looking at the new and improved version," finished Hope helpfully.

"Does that mean they're finally going to start helping us fight the Wraith?" Ronon asked in a grumble.

Soin nodded his head almost unperceptively. "I believe that was our agreement."

"Good, let's get started then, shall we?" the Colonel said. "I've been dying to know what kind of new toys you guys have to play with."

/

/

Something is rotten in Denmark. It was a literary quote that he'd picked up from one of his many encounters with the Earth humans, and it was apt for the thoughts running through his head. There was something very suspicious happening behind closed doors on Atlantis. There was something the Humans were keeping from him, Todd could feel it in his ten thousand year old bones.

He and his men had been guests on the city for several days now and during that time the humans had been exceedingly nice, which was uncharacteristic. Sure he and his men had received the petrified glances from the crew that they were accustomed to and really rather relished in. But from the corners of their eyes, when they thought the Wraith weren't looking, there was another look that took over. And it spoke volumes.

That look told him that the Humans knew something that he did not. And he was not one to not be in the know about the goings on around him. It was definitely something he would have to keep an eye out for. He would not let this turn into another debacle like the last time.

Working with Sheppard again was quite interesting to say the least. And his new female companion with the extraordinary abilities was quite intriguing as well. She really was quite something. He had never encountered anything quite like her before. The only person who had come close was Teyla. He could sense the Wraith inside of her, which is why she had been the perfect candidate to pose as a Queen to win him his freedom and autonomy.

But with this new woman he could sense nothing. It was as if she were Wraith but she wasn't. That alone was enough to keep him around for a little while, if for nothing more than to see where it all went. He wouldn't mind a little tete a tete with her, to see which of them was really superior, the true power.

For now Todd was perfectly fine with the Humans' plan of eliminating the Queens. He wanted them out of his way just as much as the humans did. But the more time he spent in their company the more he began to think they had other designs for the Wraith that they weren't telling him about.

In the event that they were planning something behind his back he needed a course of action, a plan that would allow him to keep the upper hand over Sheppard and his beloved humans. He would get his rise to power in this galaxy no matter the cost.

/

/

The Queen Council gathered once again for a meeting of minds regarding the humans. As they all sat in the council chambers they were all very aware of the empty throne among them. It was the cause of that vacant seat that brought them all together.

"How did this happen?" asked the red-haired Queen. "How have these meager humans managed to take out a Wraith Queen and her entire armada?"

The white-haired Queen snarled, a grin brimming at the edges of her mouth at the other Queen's ill fate. "Some would say it was her own fault. She went against the wishes of this council and launched an unsanctioned assault on the Genii on her own. It was a foolish move which she paid for with her life and that of all those under her protection."

"That may be true, but the fact that the humans were able to take on so many Hives and come out on top is cause for concern," voiced the black-haired Queen.

"I agree," said the red-haired Queen. "The Humans are only growing stronger, their weapons capabilities getting more and more sophisticated. And now their numbers even rival our own. And with the added threat of this abomination of a drug they're developing our very existence hangs in the balance."

The room filled with uncomfortable silence with mention of the drug. The mere thought that such a thing could exist, something that could erase everything that they were, turning them into the meager humans that had been their prey, was far too unsettling.

"We need a course of action," said the black-haired Queen. "The humans must be stopped. This drug must not be released."

"Absolutely not," concurred the white-haired Queen. "If this drug were to get out it would be even worse than the Hoffan threat. It must be eradicated."

"We need to move on the humans now. No more of this small scale warfare. One big organized assault to rid ourselves of them once and for all. And after we've destroyed every last one of them we raid their records for coordinates to their Earth and start fresh with a new untainted source of sustenance."

Nods of agreement went around the chamber.

"It's agreed then," said the black-haired Queen. "We launch on all their strongholds at once, dividing their resources. There's no way any of their ships can take on a Hive by itself. Tomorrow the Pegasus Galaxy will fall to our will."

/

/

Doctor Beckett spotted Hope as soon as she walked into the medical wing of the city. He'd been busying himself tinkering around with the new shipment of supplies sent from Earth for the Coalition planets and was surprisingly glad of the company when she walked inside.

"And what can I help you with today, lasse?" he asked her as he watched her absently fiddle around with the first piece of medical equipment she came to.

"I have a little project I was hoping you could help me out with," she began.

"What sort of project are we talking about?"

"The kind that's just between the two of us," she said.

"Well, now I'm interested," he said stopping his busy work finally and turning to give her his full attention. "You have my full attention."

Hope smiled as she pulled out a small drive from one of her pockets. "I need you to synthesize a couple batches of this for me."

"What is it?" he asked.

She moved over to the nearest computer terminal and plugged the drive into an open port. The chemical structure of a very complex substance appeared in 3D.

"It's just a little insurance policy against our friend Todd," she said finally in answer.

"Why didn't you say so to start?"

/

/

Jennifer Keller walked through the halls of the city toward the brig and was greeted at the door by two intimidating armed Marines with blank expressions on their faces. "I have a patient to see to," she explained, holding up her medical bag for emphasis.

One of the guards looked to the other who smirked and nodded to his friend before they both moved aside to let the doctor into the room. As the doors slid shut behind her she looked to the Wraith held behind the bars of the cell. But she did not find a Wraith there. Instead she found a human woman with long stark silver hair in Wraith clothing lying on the floor of the brig.

At the sound of movement in the room with her the woman raised her head from the deck and appraised her visitor. "Who are you?" she asked, getting to her feet.

"I'm Doctor Keller," she answered automatically.

"Doctor Keller, why am I here?" the woman asked. "What happened? Why can't I remember anything? What have you done to me?"

"Uh…" Jennifer was at a loss for words. She had definitely not expected this.

Aside from the clothing there was no indication that this woman before her was Wraith. "There was a biological attack and you were exposed. We've been treating you and keeping you here in quarantine," he said as she moved deeper into the room and began unloading some of her medical equipment.

It was the best she could come up with on the spot. It wasn't much, since it was pretty much the same lie the expedition had gone with the last time they'd tried to weed out the Iratus DNA from the Wraith.

"I'm going to do some scans to see how you're taking to the treatment," Jen explained. "Is that all right?"

The woman nodded, her silver hair swaying around her face. Jen moved closer to her side and through the security of the cell bars used her portable scanner on the woman and found that even internally she was no different from any other human. She would have to run some more extensive tests to be sure, but it looked like this miracle serum might work for them after all.

"What do your scans say?" the woman asked her.

Jen looked from the equipment and to her. "I think things are looking up."

/

/

Charlie was not discouraged by his lack of success in finding Atlantis. In fact, it made him even more determined. The people of Atlantis had made themselves well protected over their years here. But they could not hide from him forever. That city and the people it protected would be his trophy, his prize at the end of the war with the humans. His Queen and the others of his kind could have Earth, all he wanted was Atlantis and Colonel John Sheppard.


	19. Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen

John was dreaming again, he knew. But this was a dream different than the others. In the dreams before he was a participant, he took part, he lived it. But here he was only a witness, a helpless bystander unable to interact or partake.

He was back on Earth, in the familiar surroundings of his old family home, now his brother's. It was Spring and the gardens were beautiful as he walked the grounds making his way to his favorite spot, where he spent many hours playing as a boy, looking up into the clouds wishing he could fly.

It was there that he found them, another version of himself lying underneath the sycamore staring up into the clouds again with Layna by his side. The scene looked so very familiar to him and a moment later he realized why. This wasn't just a dream, it was a memory. A memory of a very special day.

"So what do you think?" he watched himself ask.

"The view is lovely," she answered.

"I meant about Earth," he said half-laughing. "What do you think of my planet?"

She took a moment to think her next words over.

"I think it's beautifully flawed," she said turning her eyes from the clear blue sky to look at him.

"That's a perfect description, for Earth and the people who call it home," he responded after a bit of thought.

"Is this still home to you?" she asked him.

He looked around at the grounds of his family estate. It was everything that the Pegasus galaxy wasn't and yet he hadn't given it a second thought his entire time on Atlantis. But some part of him would always belong here. "This will always be my planet, but Atlantis has been home for a long time now," he answered. "What about you, where's home?"

"I don't know where it was before I woke up on Atlantis, but since I met you home's pretty much been wherever you are," she answered him.

John smiled at her then. "I was actually hoping you'd say something like that. Because I have this very important question to ask you," he said lifting himself off of the grass to one knee and taking her hand into his. "I wanted to ask you this the first time I met you."

"Well now you've got me curious," she said when he paused apprehensively. "Go on, what is it? What's your question?"

"Would you marry me?"

"Marry you?" Layna asked. "What is that?"

"What is it?" he echoed. He hadn't thought he'd have to explain the idea to her when he'd decided to ask her. It threw him for a moment. He searched his mind for the right words. "It's a commitment, a promise, a binding of two beings," he told her. "For life."

"John, we were bound together from the moment we met," she said smiling.

"Well then what do you say we make it official?"

She pretended to think about it for a second before she nodded ecstatically and jumped into his arms, kissing him. "Of course, you idiot," she answered finally when they came up for air and they both laughed giddily.

John stood there and watched the couple, a tinge of jealousy in his heart as he wished he could feel her touch on his skin again.

"That was a good day," he heard Layna's voice from behind him. He turned to find her standing in the shadows staring at the same scene he was watching. "I was wrong though," she said.

Reluctantly he turned away from the couple and walked towards Layna. "Wrong about what?" he asked her curiously.

She turned from the scene as well to look at him, a look in her eyes he had never seen before. "Our destinies were intertwined far before we met."

"You're talking about your sister's visions." Layna nodded slowly in answer. He'd thought for weeks that these were only dreams, but now he was starting to think better. "You're real, aren't you?" he asked her. "It's been you here with me from the beginning, hasn't it?" he said gesturing around him to the dream world they existed in now.

"This is the only way," she said in answer.

He had so many questions. Too many to ask. There was so much that he wanted to know, needed to know. But he also knew that their time here would be short, just as it always was. He never had enough time with her. He feared he never would, in real life or in this dream existence. "Hope told me the Others won't let you come back. What does that mean, Layna? Who are the Others?"

She just shook her head. "John, those answers don't matter. Not now. Something is coming, something else. And you need to be prepared."

"What is it?"

"The Queens aren't the only threat to you, John. Another enemy is on the horizon and he can be very dangerous."

"What do you know?"

"Only what I can see," she answered.

"Stop talking in riddles," he blurted out. "Tell me something real, Layna," he begged her.

Her eyes grew serious as she turned to him. Whatever it was, he could tell she really didn't want to tell him. "You're going to die John."

/

/

/

Neinun moved about the bridge of his Asgard ship with caution. He, as well as all the other Asgard onboard, were still getting used to their new bodies the Savior had designed for them. They were the same as they had always been and yet still so very different. A ten thousand year's weight had finally been lifted off of their shoulders. The survival of their race was no longer in jeopardy and they owed it all to Hope Sheppard, the human child of the Ancients.

Neinen looked to his companion Soin as an alarm started beeping from his station. It was a tracking system they'd set up long ago to keep track of the comings and goings of the Wraith. Usually the readings came intermittently. There were long stretches of decades when it would not beep at all with most or nearly all of the Wraith being in stasis.

The last few years it had gone off more than usual since Atlantis had come into the picture, awakening the Wraith ahead of schedule and starting the war. But even still the alerts had not gone off like this before.

There was an enormous amount of activity registering from all corners of the galaxy. The Wraith were moving, and not just a handful of Hives either. It looked like all the Wraith were making moves to attack. The battle was on.

"Contact Atlantis," Soin ordered.

/

/

Kelore walked out of his home on Satira and looked up at the sky overhead filling with Wraith darts and cruisers. His people were running around frantically around him trying to avoid dart beams and weapons fire from the cruisers. Panic was all around him. His village, his people, his planet, was being destroyed by the Wraith.

"Sir, we have to get you to safety," said one of his guards, grabbing ahold of his arm and trying to move him to a more secure location.

Kelore shook his head as a Wraith blaster landed twenty feet to his right, kicking up dirt and making more people scatter. "Get me to communications. We have to coordinate with Atlantis and the Travelers. If there's any hope of saving any of us, we have to contact Atlantis."

His men moved to form a protective human shield around him and as one they began to move through the slaughter field that had been their peaceful village just a few hours before. They made their way past the wailing children and the falling bombs and their people dying around them toward the underground. When one of them would go down with weapons fire or get swept up in the beam of a dart they would just close their ranks around their leader Kelore and push on.

The underground structure was the newest addition to the settlement. It was designed as the central command center after the Coalition had been established. Atlantis had helped all the ten represented planets to build them in order to keep an open line of communication throughout the Coalition.

With the help of the advanced city and their ships the project that would have taken the villages months to finish had taken mere days. The result was a reinforced naquadah encasement with technologies the likes of which most of the people in the small dwarf galaxy had never seen before, let alone knew how to operate. It had taken a few lessons from Atlantis for the workers to get a good grasp of their operations.

They made it to the bunker, three men lighter than when they'd set out on their short journey. The security code was entered on the panel on the wall outside and as the doors opened Kelore was ushered in by his men who followed quickly behind. They made their way down the stairs inside and as the doors sealed shut behind them the men scattered about the room, all moving to take a vacant station in the command center and get the ball rolling on contacting Atlantis or anyone else near enough to offer aid.

"Dial Atlantis," Kelore ordered unnecessarily.

The Stargate had been moved from the surface of the planet during construction and placed here as a vital means of their off-world communications network. Those of his men who were not here were on the surface shepherding survivors to the many entrances to the underground. They would be sent through the gate as soon as possible to a hopefully safer lcoation. But first it was of the utmost importance to get their message out there.

His men entered the commands on their terminals and the entire room watched, hearts in their throats, the sound of their blooding pumping in their ears only rivaled by the sounds of Wraith armaments landing on the surface overhead, as slowly the chevrons of the gate moved one at a time to lock in on the address of the city.

Kelore let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding once the gate was activated and the event horizon plumed out in front of them all. He didn't bother transmitting his code to deactivate the shield on the other side, he would not be going through to leave his people behind to suffer. But he did transmit the distress beacon and a plea for reinforcements.

"Ancestors help us," he prayed to the heavens.

/

/

"What's going on?" Rodney asked as he poked his head out of the door to his lab.

He'd been holed up in there for a couple of days working on a universal dispersal device for the new anti-Wraith serum. Going around manually injecting hundreds of thousands of Wraith with the drug cocktail didn't seem like the best delivery method to him, nor did he think they'd find many volunteers for the job if they'd chosen to go that route. And the method they'd developed for the previous serum trials hadn't exactly worked like gangbusters either.

This serum was the key Hope had brought back from the future with her to end the war, so it had to be disseminated properly. It had to work, it was their best and maybe only shot. But he'd become distracted from his work by all the commotion going on outside of his door for the last several minutes.

"It's the Wraith," someone answered as they hurried past him.

"Yeah, what about them now?" he asked, irritated at just the mention of the species. That was all he'd ever heard for the last six years in this blasted galaxy.

"They're attacking," the same guy said over his shoulder as he hurried on down the hall.

Rodney rolled his eyes. "Again, what else is new?"

"No, they're all attacking," someone else stopped near him to say. "They're attacking everywhere. All over the galaxy."

'That _was_ something different,' Rodney thought as the owner of the voice who'd answered moved off from Rodney's lab as well.

"Sheppard to McKay," came John Sheppard's voice over his com.

Rodney tapped his ear com to activate it. "Yeah Sheppard, Wraith attacks. I've heard."

"Report to the gear room. We're deploying in five."

"But I'm not done with my machine yet," he cried.

"I don't think the Wraith care Rodney," John replied, obviously irritated.

"What crawled up your butt?" Rodney retorted.

"I had a bad dream," John answered quickly. "But reality looks like it might be worse. Now get moving."

/

/

Larrin ran through the bowels of her ship, making her way to the bridge as fast as possible as the ship shook beneath her feet. She stumbled just before she reached the hatch to the bridge, another shock to the ship tossing her into the nearest bulkhead. Righting herself back to a steady position she reached out to run her hand over the sensor on the wall to open the door and made her way onto the bridge.

"That didn't take very long, did it?" she commented as the doors slid shut behind her. She knew the Wraith would find them at some point. It was an inevitability of their reality. But she'd hoped the day would come a little further down the road. She was just getting used to this particular location. She stumbled her way to the Captain's chair at the center of the bridge as another blast hit the hull of her ship.

"The Hive just came out of nowhere," informed her Operations Officer. "It jumped out of hyperspace and immediately started firing. It's like they knew exactly where we were."

"We weren't going to be a secret forever," she mumbled under her breath. "Please tell me we're firing drones back at them?"

"Negative. They took out our weapons with their first volley."

"Great, so we're defenseless." She looked to her helmsman. "Why are we still here?" she asked. "Call our ships. Have them rendezvous with us at our secondary location. Plot a course and jump to hyperspace."

/

/

"We're getting distress calls from all over," said Chuck at his terminal in the tower. "The Wraith are everywhere, attacking everyone at once."

"They're trying to divide our resources," said Richard Woolsey.

"Good," said Hope stepping up to the man's side. "Then let's let them."

Every neck in the control room swiveled to her, all eyes staring at her perplexed.

"I'm sorry. What?" asked John.

"Between the Asgard and the anti-gene we have what we need to defeat them," she told them all.

"The anti-gene we don't have a way to deploy sufficiently," Rodney offered.

"Well you're good at thinking on your feet," said John. "I'm sure you'll find a way. If not we'll do it the same way you did the last time."

"That didn't exactly go so well," he argued.

"Well you didn't have me then, did you?" Hope said, shutting him up.

"All right," John said turning to her. "What's the plan Kid?"

"Divide and conquer," she answered. "And we're going to need Ronon's army." She turned to the man in question. "Are your teams ready to really get into this war?" she asked him.

"Do you even have to ask?" he responded with a roll of his eyes.

"You're right, that was a stupid question," she smiled.

/

/

Ladon and his men stood in the hub of the Delta 5 station armed to the teeth with Genii and Earth weapons alike. The Wraith were attacking the entire system. They'd received word from many Traveler ships and settlements within range, all under attack. Here the Wraith were engaged with their ship in orbit and their forces on the ground.

The defensive capabilities of the Delta 5 station were nowhere near on the same level of the Genii homeworld. For one thing, they were above ground, completely visible to their enemy and vulnerable to attack. What they did have going for them however was a presumably unknown location and the Ancient and Earth technologies and weaponry at its disposal.

Obviously their location had been compromised. And he wasn't sure yet how good the weapons would be going up against the Wraith forces. He hoped as good as advertised. He hadn't signed onto this alliance to die on a foreign planet defending strangers. He'd joined with his men to finally defeat the Wraith enemy after centuries of conflict.

They had worked tirelessly for months alongside the Traveler clan to help strengthen both of their forces. In that time so many things had gone down on both sides of the war. The Genii homeworld had been attacked and the rest of their people relocated. Now it looked as if the Travelers were facing the same fate. The Wraith would hunt them all down, the entire galaxy. There would be no end until they ended the Wraith. It was their only way to freedom and peace.

Ladon held his breath as he braced himself. The Wraith were forcing their way through their perimeter. He and his men readied their weapons and aimed them at the door. And then they fired as the Wraith breached.

/

/

The Hammond shot through hyperspace with a full complement of crew as well as a few dozen hitchhikers. Todd and all three of his Wraith Hives were flying right alongside them in the same hyperstream. They were on their way to the Lanera system where Satira and a handful of other Coalition planets called home. They had already sent some reinforcements to Satira through the Stargate, but ground troops and puddle-jumpers alone were not going to cut it.

"I can't believe we're doing this," Rodney said miserably, staring out the viewport as the stars streaked by. The rest of his team, minus Sheppard, was readying their gear just a few feet away.

"What?" Teyla asked him. "War? I thought you knew that is what this has been these last several years," she said with a smile.

"No, not war. I'm talking about this." He gestured around them. "Going off into battle without an actual plan or point of attack."

Ronon smiled at that, making Rodney very uncomfortable. He couldn't remember the last time he'd seen the man smile. "We do that all the time too," he laughed.

"Yeah, don't remind me," Rodney said shaking his head. "You know, I was perfectly happy in my lab," he cried just as the doors to the large compartment opened and Hope and Sheppard walked into the room to join them.

"You guys ready?" John asked.

"'Not just yet," Ronon started. "Rodney's flipping out."

"Great. Right on schedule," John said. "Just what we needed. You know," he said turning to look at Hope. "It just wouldn't feel right without Rodney hyperventilating."

"Very funny Sheppard," Rodney called across the room. "If only you could use that wit to dig us out of this massive hole we're in."

"What's the problem?" Hope asked.

"Rodney is in need of a plan," Teyla explained.

"Good," Hope smiled and turned to Rodney. "We have one."

They had just gotten off a com call with the Traveler leader Larrin. She and her forces were regrouping after the Wraith attacks in their space. But they were itching to get back at them. Hope had given them a push in that direction.

Before the Hammond had set out Ronon had assembled his soldiers from all corners of Pegasus and divided them into squadrons led by his Satedan Commanders Delkys, Remy, Synthe and Rickon. They each had been briefed about the mission and knew the important part they had to play in the strategy to overcome the Wraith forces against them.

The Traveler ships Spitfire and Anakahn were now on their way to pick up two of their squadrons. Another was already onboard the Asgard ship as it made its way to defend the Vega system. A fourth squadron was on Atlantis, which had powered up its drive and was now making its way to the edge of Wraith space. The fifth and final squadron was with them here on the Hammond and would be led by Ronon himself. All ships carried large stores of anti-gene on them and now they knew just what to do with it.

"And no one thought to tell me until now," Rodney squealed.

"We thought it'd be more fun to watch you squirm a bit," Sheppard said.

"And we were right," said Hope with a smile.

"Et tu Hope?" Rodney looked genuinely saddened. The woman just shrugged her shoulders. She was truly her father's daughter. "So we have a way to disseminate the anti-gene?" All other heads in the room nodded. "How?" he asked exasperated.

"The old-fashioned way Rodney," John said and the other man didn't like the looks he saw in the faces of his team.

"I'm not going to like this, am I?" he asked.

"No, you're really not," answered Hope.

/

/

Major Lorne and his team were making their way through the halls of the Asgard ship toward the bridge. This trip was a far different experience from the last time they had been on the Asgard ship. Then the Asgard had been enemy combatants set on taking their people, now they were allies. Atlantis seemed to be turning quite a few of their enemies into allies recently.

"How exactly did we get this assignment?" asked Ayala as they walked.

"We drew the short straw," Lorne said in answer.

''Figures."

"Could be worse," offered Jefferies. "We could be on one of Todd's Hives again right now."

"It's not much of a tradeoff considering what we're about to do and all," answered Perkins.

"If we make it through this war I'm putting in for a very long vacation," said Jefferies as they came to the hatch to the bridge and the men made their way inside.

"'We are approaching the coordinates now," informed Nienun to Lorne as the doors sealed shut behind he and his team. "We're ready for the simultaneous beams if you are."

Lorne nodded as he reached to activate his com. "Remy, this is Lorne, come in," he said hailing the Satedan Commander of the squadron of Ronon's army waiting for their marching orders in the cargo hold of the Asgard ship.

"Major Lorne," came the other man's voice in his earpiece.

"Prepare for transport down to the surface," he told him.

"Uh, okay," the man responded.

"The correct response over coms is Roger or Copy," Lorne informed the man.

"Uh, copy," was the response before the channel closed.

Lorne shook his head. All these years they'd all just thought it was a Ronon thing. Turns out it was a Satedan thing after all. He turned back to the Asgard on the bridge.

"I guess we're good," he said.

"We're coming out of hyperspace now," informed Jaikal, and Lorne and his team moved into formation for the coming beaming tech that would take them away from the relative safety of the shielded Asgard ship and directly into the hornet's nest that was real warfare against the Wraith. A few seconds later they all felt the telltale shifting of the ship as it dropped out of hyperspace. "Preparing simultaneous beam," he said and then the men were swept away in the bright light that was the Asgard transport beam. When the light disappeared they found themselves in the middle of a Wraith Hive.

"Yup, definitely got the short straw," said Ayala.

/

/

Ladon breathed a sigh of relief as the small vessel finally touched down to something solid again. He really did not like the feeling he got when inside one of the contraptions. He much preferred to keep his feet solidly on the ground. He feared he would never get used to space travel or flight but that was all right because after the war was over he didn't plan on ever having to do it again.

The puddle-jumpers, as Atlantis called them, had arrived through the gate on Delta 5 with ground troops armed to the teeth to help fight off the Wraith. With the vessels in the air taking out darts and cruisers and their combined forces fighting on the ground they managed to hold their own against what had always before been a superior enemy force in the Wraith.

But the fight was not over yet. More and more relief forces were shipped in through the Stargate. They were not all Atlantis soldiers as he would have expected either. Many of them were Pegasus born. Men and woman spanning anywhere from eighteen to their early fifties. Less than a year ago they had been farmers or builders and now they were a competent, well-trained army.

Delta 5 was not the only assault the Wraith had launched. Battles like this one were being fought all over the Pegasus galaxy. At the end of this there would only be one of two possible outcomes; the Wraith would either be defeated once and for all and Pegasus and its people would be free or their push for freedom would fail and Pegasus would fall. The only way he would let the latter happen would be over his dead body. Which was why he'd had no problem agreeing to join in this dangerous and yet necessary mission.

He'd fought all his life never to end up on a Wraith Hive. Who'd have guessed that in the end he would wind up on one voluntarily? 'Certainly not him,' he thought as he filed out of the back of the jumper with the others into the hangarbay of the Hive that had been orbiting Delta 5. He and the half dozen men with him had one hell of a mission to pull off. His only hope was that it worked.

/

/

"How're you doing Dr. Beckett?" asked Mr. Woolsey over the city's open com.

"Oh, just peachy," Carson answered from the chair room as he piloted the city with the utmost concentration.

This was the easy part. Once they arrived at their destination he'd have to fire drones at multiple moving targets on top of piloting an entire city. Needless to say, he never liked sitting in the chair, and yet he always found himself there when shit hit the fan. The Colonel had been specifically chosen for the expedition for his compatibility with Ancient tech and yet he never seemed to be the one sitting in the damned chair.

"I'd be better if I weren't sitting in this bloody chair," Carson added. "I'm a doctor for heaven's sake."

"Well, if we pull this thing off, this might be the last time we need you in that chair," Woolsey said to him.

"You promise?"

The sound of the other man's laughter could be heard over the open channel. It echoed around the doctor in the empty space of the chair room.

"Dropping out of hyperspace now," Carson informed a few seconds later.

"Ready the jumpers for deployment," Woolsey ordered Chuck at central command, who relayed the orders to the pilots in the jumper bay.

The city dropped out of hyperspace in the heart of Wraith space to find a swarm of Hives surrounding it. Carson could see it all and even though it went against all of his medical training and knowledge, he could swear his heart skipped a beat. He activated the city's drones and started targeting the Hives.

/

/

"You were right," started Rodney. "I really don't like this," he said as his team made their way through the bowels of the Hive.

The Hammond had beamed the team onboard the moment they arrived in orbit of Satira and set forth to engage the Wraith forces. Simultaneously, Ronon's Satedan squadron were beamed onto the surface of the planet. All points of this war across the galaxy were being fought on two fronts, the push on the ground and an insurgence within the Hives overhead. Both were integral to the success of humanity in Pegasus.

John nodded his head. "That's why we didn't tell you," he said before heading off and turning around a bend in the corridor.

Teyla was right behind him and Hope pushed at Rodney, urging him to follow also. They were headed to the hangar bay to meet with Todd and a few of his officers who were preparing one of their cruisers for departure. They would need it for their plan to infiltrate another of the Queen's Hives.

"I'm just saying, I'm not comfortable with a plan that relies on Todd and his henchmen's acting abilities keeping us alive," Rodney said as they continued on.

"You could always join Ronon and his team down on the surface," Hope offered.

Rodney seemed to consider the option for a half second before he responded. "You know, I think I'll stick it out here. Wouldn't be right to just abandon you guys."

John nodded again as he rolled his eyes at the other man as well this time. "That's what I thought." He turned and looked to Hope and noticed the look on her face. "What's bothering you, Kid?" he asked her.

"I don't know," she answered shaking her head. "Something just feels off."

"Please do not tell that to Rodney," Teyla said at their side as Rodney still trailed behind, just beyond earshot.

"What was that?" he asked, ears pricked up at the mention of his name.

Teyla looked pleadingly to the two Sheppards. "Nothing," John answered quickly, dismissively. "Stay focused on not liking the plan, pal." Rodney huffed and rolled his eyes at that and John moved on, turning his eyes to Hope as her face only grew more serious. "Seriously, is it Todd?" he asked her.

"I'm not sure. But something's up."

John paused his progress down the hall a bit. "Well now you've even got me worried," he whispered to her, low enough so that Rodney wouldn't overhear.

"Don't, I'm keeping very close tabs on him," she explained. "Even as we speak. Whatever he's got up his sleeve, I'll be ready," she assured him.

"Great. Well that makes me feel better."

"Relax," she said as they came to the door leading into the hangarbay. She moved to the wall and put her hand on the slimy organic reader that would release the lock and open the door. "I got this," she said as the doors slid open for them.

"Ah, so you've managed to make it after all," said Todd, a malicious grin spread wide across his face. "I was beginning to worry."

"Yeah, I'm feeling all warm and tingly inside over how much you care," John remarked, flippantly. "You set to go?"

"We were just waiting on your arrival," Todd answered.

"Good, then let's go," said Hope making her way to the waiting Wraith cruiser. "We've got a war to win." Todd stared after her with a snarl across his face as the rest of the team followed behind.

"You know," started Rodney whispering in Hope's ear as they piled into the craft. "It's usually good practice not to poke the bear, particularly when the bear in question can literally suck the life out of you."

"Todd is the least of your worries, Rodney," she said to him, a certain seriousness to her voice. He turned to her and her face morphed into a smile at the look on his face. "We're about to infiltrate a place where you've got to worry about an entire Hive that wants to suck the life out of you."

His face only grew more humorous to the group. "Why do you guys keep doing that?" he asked.

"Because you make it so much fun," John answered as the rest of the group piled in, followed by a team of six of Todd's Wraith and Todd himself. "That's why we bring you along buddy. Let's face it, you have to have some laughs when you're about to walk straight into hell," he finished as the Wraith cruiser powered up and took off from Todd's Hive on course to meet with the black-haired Queen's resting safely in space in the center of a swarm of protective Hives. Their destination might not have been hell specifically, but it was pretty damned close.


	20. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

Torren was on his own making his way to the Wraith command hub on Prime, formerly known as Earth before Arrival Day, when all hell broke loose. As the alarms started to blare and lights flashed all around him he continued on at a faster pace, hopeful to avoid the Wraith he knew would be coming for him now, and wishing that his partner Hope could have been by his side as he rushed on to his target.

They were one of the UCE's greatest teams but even still there were those rare occasions such as this when they were sent on separate missions. Their unique skills were needed on opposite sides of the galaxy this time. Hope was all the way in the Lucaran system. It was the furthest they'd ever been apart since they met twenty-five years ago when she'd moved from Earth to Atlantis.

The missions couldn't have come at a worse time for them either. The ink had barely had time to dry on their marriage certificate before the news had come down the chain of command; the Wraith were vulnerable and the UCE had a very small window of opportunity in which to pull off a task that might end up deciding the war. They needed their two best people on it.

So they'd packed up their things after enjoying less than two days of their ten day honeymoon on New Fiji and set off on separate ships heading in opposite directions. In the middle of a swarm of Wraith was definitely not where he'd pictured being four days after swearing his vows to the woman he loved, but that was the job. The Wraith War interrupting their life plans was the only life they had really ever known, but boy was he looking forward to that finally changing.

As he moved further through the corridors of the compound he started to sense them and he instantly knew that the alarms were the least of his worries. There were so many of them, more Wraith minds than he had ever sensed at once before, all waking around him. He was alone, the only human on the Wraith base of operations in this galaxy, and he was in big trouble. More than that, humanity was in trouble. There were already so many Wraith out there, humans were struggling to survive under their terror as it was.

But with the minds he was connected with now he could see there was a much worse fate out there for them if the waking Wraith made it off this rock. If this facility was left functioning, these minds in his head would only be the beginning. There would be more Wraith to follow after them. If he didn't do something here and now, there would be no stopping them, humanity would be lost. He was not going to let that happen, not if there was something he could do to stop it. He had to try, he only hoped it was enough.

/

Her father walked into the room, his shoulders hunched, head bowed. She didn't need the guilty, haunted look on his face to tell her that Torren was gone, though it was there nonetheless. She'd felt it the moment it happened, as if her very own heart had been ripped right out of her chest. Torren was dead, their life together was at an end, and she would never see him again, not in this existence or the next.

"Hope." The Great General's voice was barely above a whisper.

She didn't move, didn't even look up to meet his gaze, the father she had adored and looked up to her entire life. "I know," was all she said.

"I-" he started to say the words, but knew they would bring neither of them solace or absolution.

She had lost a husband and he had lost a son. Even more weighing was the fact that he had been the one to send Torren on the mission that had claimed his life. They were both filled with regrets. It was something they might never truly recover from. She could feel his pain on top of her own, and it was all so crushing.

"I know," she said again, knowing that he was trying to find some way to apologize, but there were no words that would make up for this, nothing that would bring Torren back. They both knew it. So with a heavy heart he left without saying another word, and she was alone, more so than she had ever been since arriving on Atlantis as a small girl.

She sat there in her temporary quarters onboard the warship with her family name plastered on it and held her shield up, the one that Torren had helped her to hone. She couldn't take anyone else's thoughts or emotions right now, her own were enough to consume her. She stayed there for as long as she could, but then the hail came from the bridge, and she collected herself as was expected of a soldier, pushing everything but the current mission aside and she did her duty.

/

She didn't see her father for a long time after that. The War kept them both busy, with the General leading the push to retake Earth after Torren's sacrifice destroying Prime and her volunteering for all of the most important and most dangerous missions in Wraith territory. She fought and fought with everything she had, bringing their side one victory after another, but it was never enough. It never seemed to bring them any closer to ending the war. And she wanted so badly what Torren had wanted before he died, for it all to be over. She wanted to see this all end before she lost anyone else.

To that end she took a break from missions for a while, changing her focus instead on research for a "cure", for lack of a better word, and for a better means of defending the human population in the meantime. She took her inherited knowledge of the Ancients and used it toward developing the basis for a design of a planetary shield for the day when Earth was finally taken back from the Wraith and resettled. The UCE dedicated entire development teams into the project, building the first prototypes and testing them on the colonies. It kept her busy for a time but when they were finally able to run things without her, she moved on to the next thing without looking back.

She worked closely alongside Drs. Keller and Beckett perfecting and spreading the Wraith anti-gene. It worked perfectly, turning the Wraith to humans and erasing their memories completely, but it also proved extremely hard to disperse. The Wraith were spread out so far, throughout several galaxies, the Queens hiding behind their numbers, always so elusive and unobtainable. No matter how many Wraith they were able to convert, the numbers of their enemy never seemed to thin. As much as they wanted it, it seemed like a peaceful resolution to the war was not in the cards.

So she went back to war. And still the losses came, one right after another. First there was Ronon who died in the Battle of Ceres with many of his Satedan friends. Then there was General Lorne and his men who made their final stand at Raza Laro. Teyla and Kanaan, heartbroken over the loss of their only child, dedicated themselves to ensuring the survival of the Athosian people and died settling one of their colonies in the outer regions.

David and Emily Sheppard were killed in the bombing of Beta 8. Their son Derrick died while reporting a news story from the Nah'Sho province. Rodney died in a freak lab accident as he was trying to develop an ultimate anti-Wraith weapon. His wife Jennifer Keller-McKay and Carson Beckett both died in an attack on Terra 7 while treating injured settlers.

But still Hope kept busy, fighting one battle against the Wraith after another, never giving herself time to stop and think about all the terrible things happening around her, never giving herself time to grieve for those she'd lost. Soon the only ones left were General Carter, herself and her father, whom she hadn't seen and barely spoken to in more than a year. But that changed when she was ordered to oversee the implementation of the planet shield over Earth. He was there at the space station waiting for her when she docked.

So much time had passed since that day he'd come to give her the terrible, life-altering news, the last day they'd been in the same room together. She had buried herself so deep in the war that she had basically been in a time bubble the last year, nothing had changed for her. But as she looked across the distance at him she knew that time had not stood still. He was completely changed from the man who'd walked away from her on that ship over a year ago, and it was definitely not for the better.

In just one year's time it looked as if he had aged over a decade. He had turned completely gray, lost weight, and the look in his eyes was not quite the same as the last time. It was a look of a man hardened by time and war and loss and pain. And she knew that she was a big contributor to that. But even still with all the many changes and the distance between them, looking at him, it all fell away. They had both been through so much, lost so much, and all they had left were each other. And she felt then how completely she had missed him.

They worked closely together for weeks, building both the planet shields and their fractured relationship. Eventually they fell into their old pattern, like the year of distance built between them didn't exist. But their time together was short-lived. Soon all the planet shields were fully operational and they each had to resume their places on the front lines of the war. They still hadn't been able to fully resolve the underlying issues that had caused the distance between them, but at least they were talking; it was something.

Her father's new focus for the war was relocating refugees back to the now shielded Earth and she went back into Wraith territory to try and eradicate the Queens. She made good progress towards that end. She managed to root out two of their locations and after a meeting of the war council, the UCE decided to send their two biggest fleets to confront their Hive swarms, one led by General Samantha Carter and the other led by General John Sheppard.

And Hope was with her father again, under his command, and old wounds that hadn't quite yet healed started to reopen. It started with something simple, a difference of opinion on exactly how to deal with their assigned Queen. She wanted to try and find a way to expose the Queen to their serum as a way of trying to at least preserve a bit of Wraith culture and give them some semblance of an independent, flourishing society when this was all over.

The General didn't see that as a feasible option given the Wraith numbers surrounding her and instead opted for a brute force attack and if they were successful, a conversion of whoever remained of the Wraith forces. She didn't agree but followed the orders given to her by her commanding officer.

She led a squadron of 302 fighters while her father coordinated attacks from the bridge of the Pegasus, Pride of the Fleet. They thought it was only fitting that the ship named after the fallen galaxy be instrumental in the battle to help win it back. But the fight didn't go as smoothly as they would have liked. Soon they found themselves surrounded by Hives and even their greatest and most heavily armed warship couldn't contend and the General made a brave command decision. He ordered his crew to abandon ship, beaming them all down to the planet's surface to gate back to safety, and as the last remaining soul on-board he altered course for the Pegasus.

"General Sheppard, what are you doing?" Hope said over the private com-line she'd opened once she saw the ship turning toward the nearest Hive.

Her father's voice came back quickly over the channel. "You know what I'm doing. I'm saving what's left of this mission. I can buy you guys enough time to get out of here."

"No, that's not how this thing ends, dad. There's another way, I know there is."

There was silence on the line for a moment, and when he finally spoke the General's voice was somber. "Not this time Hope. But at least this time no one will have to pay for it but me."

"Torren wasn't your fault," she yelled at him.

"I gave the order," he said.

"Don't," she cried out. "Please."

There was another long silence on the other end before he came back and his words broke her heart. "I'm ordering you to go Colonel. Join your squadron on the surface and gate back home. I'm ending this."

"No," she argued.

"Go now!" he yelled, his ship seconds away from collision with the Hive. "I'm sorry," he whispered just before impact.

Hope watched from the cockpit of her 302 as the Pegasus collided with the nearest Hive and ignited in flames and she felt the excruciating pain that coursed through her. It wasn't physical, that she could have handled. This pain came from deep within, from all the loss and heartache and suffering she had endured. Her father was everything, the last person she had left in the entire universe and now he was gone too.

All the other losses before this she had been able to push down, to keep the feelings and the pain at bay. But she couldn't any longer, and every loss, every painful memory, all of it rushed to the surface, hitting her all at once. It was too much. So much loss and pain, too much for one person to bear.

She could feel it building up inside her, an uncontrollable power, more than she had ever felt before. Her emotions were overwhelming her control. She tried to tame it, to push it down, but she couldn't. Her body burned with it as it built and built until she could take no more and as it reached her breaking point it surged out from her, and she felt no more.

/

/

/

"Are you guys almost done?" Ronon asked over his com from the battlefield of Latira to his teammates in orbit above traipsing around the Wraith Hive. He dodged a blow from the Wraith he was currently engaged with and shot him point blank in the head with his pistol as he waited for a reply.

"Not exactly Chewy," came John's response in his earpiece. "We're not having cake and ice cream up here, we're trying to turn a Hive of Wraith into humans."

"Really, well it's loads of fun down here, in case you were wondering," he retorted and his team could hear the sounds of the great battle playing out around he and his Satedan squadron.

Upon first beaming down to the surface of the planet they had engaged the Wraith to buy the Laterans time to evacuate the planet. Even after all the survivors were beamed back up to the ship Ronon and his people stayed to fight. The time of running and hiding from their enemy was long over. They would fight to keep what was theirs, to defend their galaxy and the people in it.

"Well, it's a little too late to trade places now," John said. "But it sounds like you're having the time of your life down there."

"Oh yeah, never better. Wouldn't trade this for anything."

With that he kicked a Wraith soldier charging at him in the gut and shot him with his pistol before he had time to recover. Winding the pistol in his hand he spun around and shot another a few feet away who was about to attach his hand to the chest of one of Ronon's fighters. The Wraith fell to the ground with a satisfying thud.

Ronon raised his eyes to the skies and saw darts heading in their direction and he signaled to his men to move. They charged into the woods nearby for cover as the Wraith on foot followed closely behind. "Sorry to cut this catch up session short but I gotta go buddy, Wraith to kill," Ronon said over the still-open com.

"Roger that, Sheppard out. Happy killing."

Ronon smiled at Sheppard's words as his eyes scanned the treeline for approaching Wraith. There were a few on the edges of the woods, most of whom would be taken care of by the traps they'd set earlier. He and his men would happily deal with the rest. Ronon turned to Kaeden.

"Hand me the blaster," he requested, holding out his arms to the man.

Kaeden smiled as he handed it over and Ronon hefted the large rocket launcher over his shoulder, aiming it at the darts overhead. Lining one up in his sights he fired, and his men on the ground watched the craft erupt in a fiery blaze.

/

/ 

Larrin held her breath as her ship rumbled with every hit on its outer hull. They'd been taking a bit of a beating from the swarm of Hives they were fighting. But they were giving as good as they got. Their drones were tearing through the Hives, but they were using them sparingly.

The plan from Atlantis was not to completely destroy the Wraith but to at least try and save something of them for a society after this was all over. She didn't know why, nor did she agree that they were even worth saving, but all the Coalition Twelve had agreed to the strategy. They would all agree to almost anything to finally end this all once and for all.

"We're taking heavy damage to our starboard bow," informed her operations officers.

She checked the damage for herself on the small monitor in the armrest on her chair. "What's the status of our drones?" she asked.

"We've still got three-quarters of our compliment."

She nodded her head. "Fire a short volley at the lead Hive on our Starboard. Target their weapons."

Her man nodded and input the commands and she watched the progress on her screen. "All three drones, direct hit. Their weapons are disabled."

"Good," she said with a slight smile on her face. "Maybe that'll get the other Hives thinking a little differently. And the puddle-jumpers?" she asked.

"All still present and accounted for."

/

/

"Are you sure you know what you're doing there pal?" John asked as Rodney was about to tamper with the air system on-board the black-haired Queen's Hive.

Rodney eyed the other man standing clear across the room. "You know, you're more than welcome to do this yourself Colonel Commando," he retorted as he input a few commands before moving to open an access panel to the filtration system.

John looked to Hope. "I really think you should be the one doing this. It was your brilliant idea in the first place," he said to her.

"Relax, Rodney's got this," she said with a smirk. "Besides, I really need to concentrate on Todd."

Teyla's eyes shifted to her from her guard position just inside the door. "How is that going?" she asked her.

Hope shrugged her shoulders as her mind touched out clear across the Hive to the Wraith mind she was currently monitoring. "Well, he hasn't blown his cover yet, but I'm still waiting to see what he does in front of the Queen."

"Give me a hand," Rodney requested as he moved to load the serum into the Hive's open air system. John grabbed one of the large packs and helped Rodney introduce it into the system. "Okay," Rodney started. "That should just about do it." He closed the access panel and input a few more commands on his tablet.

"Great, does that mean that we can get off of this flying hellhole now?" John asked smartly.

"It's still going to take awhile for the serum to work it's way completely through the Hive's system," Rodney reminded him.

"And then we have to deal with the Queen. And if that does not go so well then possibly Todd," offered Teyla.

John looked pointedly to Hope. "Yeah Kid, please make sure that doesn't happen."

Hope nodded and went back to focusing on her task.

/

/

Hope walked through the Hive alongside Todd and the rest of his entourage as one of them, hiding in the mind of Todd's first Lieutenant. She was keeping tabs on Todd right from his inner circle and none of the Wraith were any of the wiser, including Todd himself. Her father would be so jealous, in fact he was. He'd told her as much. There was no love lost between the man and the ambitious Wraith Commander.

By Todd's side she made her way through the Hive to a meeting with the Queen. Hope was really looking forward to it. The Queens had always fascinated her. They were ruthless and single-minded. Nothing mattered to them more than their own survival and the survival of their Hives, and in that order. She knew what made them tick but she didn't know why.

She had only ever put others first. So had almost everyone she had ever known. It was all she knew, except for the Wraith. The Wraith were made differently, but so was she. She had a part of them inside of her, and yet she was nothing like them. In fact, she was the exact opposite. She wanted to find out for herself exactly why that was.

The group of Wraith finally stopped their progress through the Hive as they came to a sealed hatch. Todd looked pointedly to Hope and with her inhabited body she moved to knock on the door. A few seconds later the doors were thrown open by one of the Queen's drones and they were greeted with an audience in front of the red-haired Queen. Todd led the way into the chamber, Hope and the rest of his entourage right on his heels.

As he reached the Queen's throne, he bowed at her feet and those behind him followed suit. "Thank you for seeing us my Queen."

"Yes, well you do intrigue me so. Tell me, how is it that you have faired so long on your own without the protection of a Queen?"

"I suppose we've been lucky. We've stayed out of the way these last few years, not that Atlantis hasn't had us in their sights on occasion," he added under his breath.

"Atlantis, well we won't have to worry about them much longer. And you will now be a part of my armada, under my protection."

Todd bowed again. "Thank you, my Queen. We will gladly serve you in any way you wish. Perhaps you have something in particular in mind right now?"

Hope rolled her eyes at Todd's too-obvious push and turned them to the Queen to study her reaction. She did not look pleased. Hope wanted to get in her head but she couldn't while inhabiting the mind of the Wraith Lieutenant, her abilities were very limited while doing so. She didn't even know for sure if Todd wasn't trying to blow this thing on purpose. Surely he wasn't that stupid to purposely trap them all in the middle of a hostile Hive.

But slowly the Queen's mouth curled into a wicked grin and Hope's fears were assuaged. "We're in the middle of a great offensive against the humans," started the Queen.

"That is why we came, my Queen. A chance to help defeat Atlantis once and for all is all we ask."

The black-haired Queen gave Todd and appraising look before she nodded to her second at her side. "See to it that my new Hives have a place in the battle to come," she commanded.

Her Commander bowed in acknowledgment and moved to carry out her orders. Todd bowed once more at the feet of the Queen. "My Queen," he said before he and the rest of his men turned to follow the Commander out of the Queen's chambers.

/

/

Jaikal and Soin were battling their way through the middle of the Wraith Hive. Well, they were pretending to battle. Their weapons were far more superior than that of the Wraith enemy they were facing, but they were not here to defeat them. They were merely a distraction.

After Major Lorne and his team had been beamed onboard the Hive the two Asgard had donned their exoskeleton suits and jumped out of the cargo hold of their ship, dropping onto the Hive beneath and laser cutting their way through. It had definitely caught the Wraith's attention.

Once inside the Hive they were quickly joined by a small army of drones. They could have dealt with them quickly, but expediency was not the objective. They toyed with them for a while, but even that did not last long. Soon their weapons dispensed with the Wraith forces and the Asgard moved on.

They had continued to keep the entire Hive occupied while the Atlantis team accomplished their mission elsewhere on the ship. But they were doing too good of a job. They were running out of Wraith to fight against.

"Major Lorne," Soin hailed over coms.

"Go ahead," came the man's voice.

"By our calculations, you and your men should be done with your task by now."

"Are the Wraith too much for you to handle?" the man asked over the open line.

"Quite the opposite actually. If you take much longer your task will no longer be necessary. There will be no more Wraith to use your serum on."

"Copy that. We're wrapping up now," the man finally answered. "Thanks for the assist."

Jaikal had the urge to roll his eyes as the humans so often did. "We are on our way to extract the Queen," he said instead. "Signal to the ship and they will beam you down to the planet's surface."

"Copy that. Good luck."

"We do not need luck, Major," was his response before the line was closed.

/

/

John and Rodney were making their way back from the central nervous system of the Hive. Hope and Teyla had already gone on ahead of them and were making their way to the Queen for an extraction. Rodney had needed to check on a few more systems and John had stayed behind to back him up. He was regretting his selfless decision already as Rodney was being his usual self and doing nothing but annoying him.

"So what would you say?" Rodney began again. "This is about the thousandth time we've found ourselves in a dangerous situation in the middle of a Hive doing something stupid."

"I'd say that sounds about right," John agreed.

"With any luck, maybe this just might be the last time," he said as they turned a corner and ran right into their old friend Charlie.

The two men turned quickly on their heels and headed back the way they'd come. "You just had to say it," John said as they ran for their lives away from the Wraith Commander.

"You think he saw us?"

The alarms of the Hive started blaring all around them. "I'd say that's a safe bet," John answered as they ran down the hall.

A blast from a Wraith stunner rifle shot right by Rodney's head and hit a bulkhead. John ducked and spun around on his knees and returned fire with his P90 as Rodney continued on to relative safety. His shots also hit the bulkhead as Charlie was able to dodge them with his speed. John got back on his feet and chased after Rodney, but instead of finding his friend he was met with a wall of organic material blocking his escape.

He turned back to Charlie and found the Wraith's hand still poised over a control panel on the wall. John raised his pistol to fire at him again but the Wraith charged at him too fast and was on top of him before he even had time to blink. Charlie bent the barrel of the rifle with his hand easily and proceeded to grab John by his flack vest and shove his snarling face into the man's.

"I've been waiting to see you again, Colonel Sheppard," he growled.

"Yeah, sorry," John managed to spit out. "Can't really say the same Charlie."

The Wraith inched his face even closer. John could taste his breath. "That is not my name," Charlie yelled at him before lifting John up with a single hand and tossing him down clear across to the other end of the corridor.

"Sheppard, what the hell? Are you all right?" came Rodney's voice in John's earpiece but he could barely hear it over the sound of his pulse pounding in his ears. "What's going on? Where'd this wall come from?"

"Get the hell out of here Rodney," John growled back over the line as he slowly tried to pick himself up off of the deck. He already hurt all over. "Looks like Charlie wants me all to himself."

"Are you nuts?" was Rodney's response.

"Maybe," was John's answer.

"He'll kill you," Rodney added quickly.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," John remarked even as his mind flashed on what Layna had told him in that dreamworld. This could be the threat she mentioned. Charlie might very well be the end of John Sheppard. But still he didn't hesitate. "Get out of here Rodney," he said again as Charlie reached into his leather cloak and pulled out a long blade. The sight of it along with the devilish smile that crossed his face made John cringe just a bit. But he was going to give himself a fighting chance. So he did the only thing he could. He turned and ran as fast as he could, and the Wraith was right behind him.

/

/

Todd and his men were making their way back to the hanger bay to retrieve their cruiser when the alarms started blaring. He turned to his second in command and Hope stared back at him through the Wraith's eyes.

"Leave it to the humans to get caught while executing their own plan," Todd said before he turned around and headed back toward the Queen's chambers.

The rest of his men were right behind him and Hope was curious as to his next actions. It was the whole reason she had been keeping tabs on him in the first place. Would he stick by them and follow through on his word, or would he continue on as he had in the past and double-cross them for his own advantage with the Queen?

As they approached the Queen's chambers they found two unconscious drones lying on the deck in front of the double-hatch doors. They readied themselves, stepping over the drones and entering the Queen's chambers. What Todd saw when he walked inside he did not like, not one bit.

There were several more unconscious Wraith scattered about the room and the two human women were there, crouched over the Queen. Neither Sheppard or the smart one were anywhere in sight. He'd hoped and even half-expected to find her with her throat slit, but much to his disappointment the Queen was still very much alive, only rendered unconscious from whatever the humans had injected her with.

"You're keeping the Queens alive," he accused, outraged.

"Yes," Hope answered simply.

"We are keeping as many Wraith alive as we can," Teyla answered. "That includes the Queens."

"We had an agreement," he started.

Hope nodded. "Yes, that you would have power all your own among the Wraith, but we never said anything about killing the Queens," she clarified. "And us keeping them alive does not change our agreement."

He seemed to think back on that for half a second. "So you say. Still, this is unacceptable. I can't allow it to happen," he said and signaled to his men who all raised their weapons and aimed them at the women.

"Well, this feels like old times," said Teyla, standing up from her crouched position at the Queen's side and raising her hands defensively.

Hope stayed where she was, unmoving. "You just can't honor an agreement, can you Todd?" she said.

"Not when it goes against my own interest," he responded.

"Uh, looks like this isn't such a good time," came Rodney's voice from the entrance and all eyes turned to him, as well as the weapons that weren't already pointed at his friends. He raised his hands in the air. "I'll come back."

He tried to back-peddle his way out of the room but Todd wouldn't hear of it. "Nonsense. Thank you for joining us Dr. McKay. Where's my good friend Sheppard?" he asked. "He seems to be the only one missing the party."

Rodney's gaze glanced to Hope before he addressed the question. "We got separated when we ran into another old friend, Charlie."

"Ah," Todd started, a hint of disappointment in his voice. "It sounds as if the Colonel is no longer a problem I will have to deal with. I have to say, a part of me will miss him. But you three," he nodded to his men to fire.

"So you're just going to shoot us?" Rodney cried.

"I was thinking on it, yes," Todd answered.

"They're not going to shoot us Rodney," Hope assured him.

"What the hell are you talking about? They're Wraith, we're lucky if all they do is shoot us." Rodney turned back to the Wraith aiming weapons at them. "Please, just shoot me," he begged.

"Way to go out with some dignity," Hope said to him before she turned to stare across the short distance defiantly at Todd. "But like I said, we're fine."

Finally Todd smiled at her. "I have to admit, I do admire your spirit. But sadly you are wrong," he said signaling to his drones once more. "You're not fine."

Rodney shut his eyes tight as the drones aimed their weapons at his chest and flinched as he heard the sound of weapons fire, expecting that it would be the last sound he ever heard. He peeked one eye open a second later when he realized he hadn't been shot and found three of Todd's Wraith lying prone on the floor with the last standing over them holding the still hot rifle. Quickly the Wraith raised the weapon once more and aimed it at Todd whose face turned quickly from confused surprise to seething anger.

"So, not dead?" Rodney said.

"No, not dead," Teyla told him.

"What have you done?" Todd seethed at Hope.

"I've just been keeping an eye on you through your friend here. I have complete control of him," she told him, and as a demonstration she had the drone shoot himself with his own rifle set to maximum stun. The Wraith Lieutenant fell to the deck. "You guys go and get the Queen out of here," she said to Teyla and Rodney.

"And you?" Rodney asked.

"I'll take care of Todd."

"Are you sure?" Teyla asked her.

"Yes," she said with a nod as she stared Todd down.

The Wraith Commander did not move an inch. She was keeping him immobile until her people cleared the room. She could see him seething, trying desperately to break free of her hold and kill them all if he got the chance.

Rodney and Teyla managed to lift the Queen between the two of them and started to carry her toward the door. "Rodney," Hope called out, stopping them briefly. The man looked to her, struggling a bit with the burden of the weight of the Queen in his arms. The words never left her lips but he knew what she was asking with just her glance.

"I lost him on coms, but it's Sheppard," he said. "He's been through worse. I'm sure he's already at the cruiser waiting for us."

She nodded her agreement and with a final look, he and Teyla shuffled out of the door with the heavy black-haired Queen in tow and she was left with Todd.

/

/

John was nowhere near the hangar bay holding the cruiser or anywhere that could be deemed relatively safe for that matter. He was being hunted by a predator, in the predator's own backyard and he was without his rifle. He was royally screwed. Charlie was five times stronger than John and was sufficiently pissed enough to probably rip him to pieces with his bare hands. Not to mention the ten inch curved dagger of death or the fact that Charlie had the ability to literally suck the life out of him.

But John had a plan. It might have been ill-conceived with little chance for success, but at least it was a plan. Charlie already had every advantage over him, but John just needed one; the element of surprise. Which is why he now found himself in a part of the Hive he had never before seen in all his many previous adventures on Wraith Hives. A room with some very interesting accessories.

Charlie wasn't too far behind. The taunting sounds of the Wraith's boots on the deck and his blade scraping against the bulkhead were drawing nearer to John's position. He hadn't made it too hard for Charlie to track him down. The whole point of setting a lure trap was for your subject to actually find you.

Charlie may have disabled John's P90, but he still had his pistol, some flash-bangs and hand grenades, some C-4, and a tactical blade to work with. In such close quarters, and in the middle of a flying ship in space, he was really hoping it wouldn't come to having to use the grenades or the C-4. It was almost certainly going to take them both out if he did.

John held his breath as the hatch to his chamber opened and Charlie stepped in. He waited for the Wraith to clear the threshold before he tossed the stunner grenade at his feet. He used the cover and the confusion to spring on his enemy. It only half-worked. Charlie still countered all of John's attacks with little effort and soon the man was on his back.

But he got back up, on his feet before the Wraith could pounce on him again. But Charlie wasn't through. John reached into his vest for his pistol and aimed it at his adversary. He got off half the clip before Charlie violently wrenched the gun out of his hands and smacked him with a backhand so hard he flew halfway across the room.

John watched from his vantage point on the deck of the Hive as Charlie reached his free hand to his own torso and came away with blood from his half dozen bullet wounds. John took some comfort in the fact that he had inflicted some damage on the Wraith, but it was small and short-lived, quickly wiped away by his own pain.

Charlie had nearly pulled his arm out of its socket when he took away his pistol. A few fingers on that hand were probably broken as well. Not to mention the battering to his body from being constantly thrown across rooms. John was taking a hell of a beating and it wasn't getting him any closer to defeating the Wraith.

Which is why he went for the nuclear option. With his good hand John reached into his vest and flipped the switch on the detonator to the small charge of C-4 he'd set earlier. Charlie was standing right in the sweet spot. It wasn't enough to kill him, or even do too much damage to the ship. But John was hoping it might be enough of a distraction or a hindrance to Charlie so that he could get away.

The charges blew and the bulkhead Charlie was standing beneath collapsed on top of him. John once again pulled himself back up to his feet and started to walk away, relieved that he actually could. But before he could clear the room he heard sounds coming from underneath the rubble. He turned back in time to see Charlie climb out and in a blink he was across the room again and on him, his hand closing in a vice grip around John's throat.

"I'm so glad you're attempting to put up a fight, however feeble it may be," Charlie said, smiling as the man in his hands struggled. "It's much more fun this way."

"Agree to disagree," John spit out as he was lifted unceremoniously into the air and Charlie let out a sound that would probably pass as a laugh for a Wraith. With one hand still wrapped tightly around John's neck he wielded the deadly blade with the other. It glinted off the light in the corridor as Charlie held it out for him to see.

"I really do love this blade. But I think I'd love it even more if it were buried to its hilt inside of a choice body part of yours, Colonel."

John didn't like the sound or idea of that and tried to reach for his own tactical knife tucked inside his vest. Charlie ran the blade down the length of the man's body, slicing away the straps of his vest on the left side as he went. He struggled against the wall and the Wraith pinning him to it. The struggle only served to make Charlie's grip even tighter. But he managed to reach back into his vest.

John fumbled a bit, the lack of oxygen making it to his brain was not a help, but he managed to wrap his fingers around the hilt of his blade just as Charlie slid the knife into John's gut. Sheppard felt every agonizing inch of the blade as Charlie took his time with it. He felt it tearing up his insides, shredding every vital organ it passed through until the hilt of it could go no further.

"Honestly," Charlie tisked, inches from John's face. "I have been waiting for this for some time. The fall of Colonel Sheppard."

"You're coming with me asshole," John choked out. Finally curling his fingers around the hilt he snatched his blade out of its resting place and plunged it deep into the Wraith's neck.

Charlie's grip loosened as he stumbled back with the blow and John crumbled to the deck a final time as another explosion rocked the other end of the room.

/

/

"Did you really think you could get away with betraying them again, that you could deceive even me?" Hope asked as she circled around Todd.

His head turned to follow her movements, the only part of his body he had control of. She was still keeping him immobile somehow, with her more than human trickery. "Let me go and I'll show you what I can do," he challenged her.

He watched her as she seemed to consider the idea for a moment and in an instant he was free. "You wanted this all along," she said, finally understanding.

Todd's face only showed pleasure for what was sure to come. "I have done it in the past and if this time were to turn out differently I figured it would be you who would come and face me," he answered. "But this," he indicated the two of them. "This moment was inevitable from the very second you stood against me on the human ship."

"In all the power you have amassed, you just can't stand being second," she said.

"It's time to see which one of us is more powerful," he declared.

"You'd risk your life just to get your answer?" she asked him.

"I don't see it as a risk," he said in answer. "Merely an opportunity to rid myself of a possible threat."

"The only threat to you is you Todd." Hope shook her head sadly at the Wraith Commander. "I gave you an opportunity to have everything you wanted. It's a shame you wasted it. You see, in the end, it's all about the choices we make. And you chose wrong Todd."

She could feel him, probing at her, trying to get into her head. His attempts were laughable. He was not as strong as she was. If she let him practice his new abilities for the next ten thousand years he would not be as powerful as she was at that moment. But she knew she would only grow stronger.

She was different from anything that had ever existed before. Her power was already too great for her. Every time she learned to control what was inside of her the power only grew greater. She could never quite get a hold of it. She wondered if in the future it would consume her or the other way around. She was dangerous, that she already knew.

But Todd was dangerous in his own right. He'd proven that just now. In his current state he would always be a threat to Atlantis and Pegasus and maybe even John Sheppard. He craved the power where all she wanted was to be rid of it. He would do anything to get his, including deceive and kill anything in his way, human and Wraith alike.

She knew this, had seen it all in her own timeline. But still she had given him a chance to change, to do things differently. It was the whole reason she had traveled through time. She was trying to right the wrongs and maybe undo some of the damage. She was trying to set a different course for everyone, including Todd.

"We'll see," he said, before he advanced on her.

He pulled a long blade from under his many layers of leather and sliced through the air in her general direction. He was aiming for her and moved very fast, but she moved faster, dodging every stroke of his arm. She knew what moves he would make before he made them afterall. She spun around the attack and once he was behind her she swept his feet out from under him and he smacked into the deck with a loud, satisfying thud, the blade flying from his hand and clattering on the floor across the room.

He wanted a fight, but she knew there would be no point. He was outmatched. And she was not Wraith. She did not need to toy with her adversaries to make herself feel superior. Ego stroking was never her forte. Quickly she reached into her pocket and pulled out one of the syringes Dr. Beckett had prepared for her.

Todd got back up on his feet and charged at her again. This time she did not move, holding her ground until he was right on top of her. He made it to within mere nanometers of Hope before he was stopped again.

"What happened to fair?" he questioned.

"I'm bored," she told him. "Dragging this out won't change anything." Hope plunged the needle into the Wraith's neck and emptied its contents into his bloodstream. "This ending was inevitable the moment you decided to betray them, Todd," she whispered into his ear as she snatched the syringe back. Slowly, the large Wraith Commander slid from her arms and crashed to the floor.

"What have you done?" he asked her, already starting to feel the effects of the ultra-concentrated serum she had injected him with.

"I'm restoring balance," she answered him. "Correcting a mistake made millennia ago. Your power has gone unchecked for long enough."

"And what of your power?" he asked her as he writhed helplessly on the floor.

She stared down at him, reflectively. "That will soon be balanced as well," she told him.

"Who are you?" he asked her finally. He still did not understand this woman or the source of her power or knowledge. He had finally been bested. He took a small comfort in the fact that she wasn't a mere human. She was more, he knew. He just needed to know how much more.

Hope looked down on him with pity. He would soon lose all memory of the past. It was one of the important effects of the cocktail now flowing through his blood. There was no harm in telling him now. "Sheppard," she answered. "I'm his daughter." The revelation registered noticeably on his face. "Goodbye Todd. Enjoy your human life," she told him just before the effects of the serum caused him to pass out.

/

/

"Looks like you won," Rodney said to Hope as she dragged Todd's unconscious body onto the cruiser and plopped him alongside the Wraith Queen.

"Looks like," she responded looking around the cabin for someone in particular.

"He hasn't made it back yet," Teyla told her and just then the ship rocked beneath their feet from a blast originating inside the Hive.

"That's... not supposed to happen, right?" Rodney said.

"No, it's not," Hope said rushing into the cockpit to check the readings. What she saw alarmed her. "There's an energy surge building in the Hive caused by multiple systems malfunctions. When it reaches the core the whole Hive is going to blow, taking out anything in it's range," she told them.

"How much time?" Teyla asked.

Hope didn't answer. Instead she stood from her seat and headed toward the exit of the cruiser. "New plan," she said. "You guys get the hell off this Hive before it blows."

"And you?" Teyla asked.

"I'm going to go and save my dad."

She saw the looks on their faces. They didn't believe it anymore than she did. Rodney moved and checked the readings for himself. "You're insane. There's no way you'll make it in time," he told her. "We don't even know where he is Hope."

"I'll find him," she assured them.

"We are coming with you," Teyla stated.

"No. I'm quicker on my own. And you two need to get Todd and the Queen back. That's the mission."

"We do not leave our people behind," Teyla said moving to leave.

She looked to the team before her. She had come to save them all. That had been her mission. She would not fail at that. And she would not fail her father either. There was a way to save him. And it was the only way that this could end now.

"I'm not leaving this ship without him," Hope promised. "Now go," she ordered, sealing the cruiser doors shut behind her and leaving the hangar bay.

She ran through the ship. As much as she hated her powers, she suddenly wished that manipulation of time was one of them. But she didn't have time, she knew that before she even stepped off of the Wraith cruiser. There was no time to stop the coming explosion. There was no time to get to her father's side in time to shield him from the blast. There was only time to do one thing.

She reached out across the ship with her mind, searching for him until she connected. He was still alive but barely, hanging on to life by a just a few precious breaths. Charlie had left him right on death's door. There was no way he was going to make it off of this Hive. No way his body would survive this last mission. But she could still save him.

'Can you hear me?' she asked him.

"Hope?" He was talking aloud as if she were in the room with him. She heard him in her mind all the same. "What the hell are you still doing here?" he asked her.

'That's a dumb question.'

"Look, I started something, I don't know. But I'm pretty sure this thing is going to blow, Kid. You need to get as far away from here as possible," he told her. "Get everyone out."

'The team's already left on the cruiser. They should have just enough time to escape the blast. But you should know as well as anything that I'm not leaving you behind, no matter what.'

"There's no time. I'm dying, no reason for you to die with me. Please, just get the hell out before it's too late."

'It's already too late. Our time here has run out. But I need you to concentrate. Stay with me.' She felt him drifting off into oblivion, but she needed his mind to stay connected with her. 'Dad,' she yelled in his head, and felt him coming back around. 'Just hang on.'

/

/

/

The Wraith cruiser escaped the shockwave of the exploding Hive by mere meters. The occupants inside breathed a sigh of relief at their luck but that feeling quickly changed. There was an awkward silence in the cabin. No one made a move. They were too shocked, too grief stricken.

Teyla tried concentrating to sense their presence. She reached out with her mind to read anything or anyone in proximity to them. But all she could sense were Rodney and the Wraith in the jumper with her. She didn't sense John or his daughter. She knew that they were gone. She had no doubt that if they had survived she would sense them, if not John then definitely Hope.

Ever since Hope's arrival on Atlantis Teyla had been able to sense her, just as she was able to sense the presence of a Wraith. With others she had to try to sense their presence, to really concentrate. But with the Wraith, and with Hope, it was just natural.

She had felt it when the Hive ship had detonated. She had felt the loss. One minute Hope had been there, a strong force in her head. And then, in an instant, she wasn't there anymore. But Teyla still had hope that she was wrong, and so she tried to reach out and find them. But she wasn't having any luck. And when she relayed her thoughts to Rodney, the sorrow she felt at the loss was felt all around. So the two of them just sat there in the jumper staring at each other in stunned silence until the hail came over the open hailing frequency.

"Unidentified Wraith cruiser, this is the General Hammond. Please identify yourself as friendly or you will be fired upon."

Rodney was the first to move to answer. "Hammond, this is McKay, onboard the cruiser with Teyla and two sleeping Wraith. Identifying as friendly. Do not fire."

It was Colonel Carter's voice who came back over the line this time. "McKay, what the hell happened out there?" she asked. "We detected an explosion on our sensors and when you didn't show up at the rendezvous we decided to come and investigate. Are we staring at a debris field that used to be a Hive? And where are Colonel Sheppard and Hope?"

There was a long silence before the answer came. "They're gone Colonel," he told her. "They're gone."


	21. Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty

The sun beaming in her face was what woke her. The heat of it alone instantly telling her she was no longer in the cockpit of her 302 as she last remembered, but on some world not yet ravaged by the Wraith or the war. She opened her eyes to find herself lying on a cot in a portable medical habitat devoid of any life other than her own.

Her head hurt, her stomach ached with a certain hunger, and she felt weaker than she had ever been in her life, but she couldn't remember having been injured. Slowly she sat up on her cot, her head swimming as she did. There was an IV line running through her left arm and as she drew her eyes to the drip she saw several empty bags left on the stand next to the fresh one, telling her she had been here for a while.

Throwing her legs over the side of the cot she tried standing but found it quite difficult, as if the gravity in the room had been turned up to maximum. Her legs buckled beneath her and she caught herself by quickly grabbing ahold of the cot. Finally able to steady herself a minute or so later she slowly made her way to the door, dragging her IV drip along with her, but before she could reach it the door swung open and a man in an old fashioned white lab coat stepped inside.

"Oh wow, you're up!" he exclaimed, obvious surprise in both his voice and on his face.

"Yes. I'm up. Was that not expected?" she asked.

"Honestly Colonel Sheppard, we didn't know what to make of it," he said in answer.

"What to make of what? What happened? How long was I out? And where am I?"

"You're on Beta 6. You've been here for over a month," he told her as he moved to help guide her gently back to her medical cot.

"A month?" she questioned, half falling back into a seated position.

One minute she had been on her ship in the middle of a war and now she was on a planet lightyears away being told that a month had gone by without her. What could have happened in that time? How many more souls had the Wraith War claimed while she had been out?

"What's the status of the war?"

He steadied his gaze on her. "You really have no idea, Colonel?" She shook her head. "The Wraith are gone," he told her.

"Gone? Gone where?"

"To hell probably," he responded.

"Lieutenant," she tried to bark, on the edge of exasperation.

He straightened up and looked to her with a serious face. "They were all destroyed. In the last battle there was a massive release of energy that swept across the system. No one can figure out what it was or where it came from but it fried everything it touched. All our ships and facilities went down. By the time we recovered and sent out teams to investigate we found all the Wraith dead. Every Wraith on every single Hive, everywhere, all gone. The War is over Colonel."

She took in the information, a million thoughts running through her mind. "And my crew?" she asked.

His face turned somber at that. "I'm afraid there were some casualties, one being General Sheppard. He was able to save most hands on board by beaming them to the surface to gate to safety before he piloted the ship into the lead Hive. The impact and resulting explosion took out the remaining Hives." He looked pointedly to her then. "The General sacrificed himself to save everyone, and he did."

"I know that, I watched it happen," she said sadly, trying desperately to hold back her tears in front of the junior officer. "What happened after that? How did I end up here? Everything else is what's coming up blank. What were the other casualties?"

"The explosion of energy, Colonel. It knocked out systems all over the galaxy, not just the Wraith. There were people trapped in facilities without life support. By the time rescue parties made it out to some of them, it was too late. Many of your F302 squadron in range were also disabled, some caught in the planet's atmosphere crashed, others drifted in space. You were the only one we found still alive. We're still not sure how you survived, Colonel."

That was a good question, one she was not inclined to answer lest it bring even more scrutiny to her or her circumstances. She knew what had saved her and she had a sneaking suspicion about how her squad as well as the Wraith had been killed. They were all dead because of her. She had let her emotions overcome her and lost control of the power inside of her and it had killed them all.

"How many?" she asked.

"Colonel?"

"How many dead? How many of our people are gone?" Her voice was on the edge of tears, she was trying so desperately not to break down again. She knew what that would do now. She couldn't have anymore deaths on her conscience. She could never lose control again. The cost was too great. She was too powerful, too dangerous.

"There were a total of 307 humans lives lost in the incident, Colonel," the Lieutenant informed her.

307 souls and the entire Wraith species, lost now because she had lost control. Everyone she had ever loved or cared about had been taken from her and her very nature had lashed out against her. Those thousands of souls would weigh heavily on her now for as long as she lived. She had not meant to cause their deaths but was responsible nonetheless. She was a weapon, an unstable and unpredictable one. What other atrocities would she be responsible for in the future? How many more lives would she claim to weigh down her soul?

It was a few days later, after she'd had some time to gain some of her strength and mobility back and come to terms about her new reality, that she left Medical to walk around the villages on Beta 6. She saw an obvious difference now that the war was over. She looked out at the village, at the people going about their lives. They were free now and they knew it through their entire beings. It was as if a physical weight had been lifted from them.

But the opposite could only be said of her. She had ended the war and brought them freedom and peace from the Wraith. But to end the war she had committed genocide and even snuffed out the lives of her own crew. She had killed her own people, her friends. She wouldn't risk anyone else. She knew what she had to do. She had to isolate herself, work on controlling her emotions and their link to the power inside of her. She would never let it out to hurt another living soul as long as she lived.

And so she spent years in isolation for fear of what she might do on accident, years trying to hone in her power and her emotions. But all she could do was feel. All she could think about were the many lives that were no more because of her. The faces plagued her in her dreams and the guilt crushed her while she woke. And the years just ticked on that way. It was enough to drive anyone mad. It was too much to live with.

And all she had was time, so much time she soon learned. Months turned to years, years to decades, decades to centuries. All that time alone, never moving on while the universe changed around her. But she was stuck. It was many more years before the idea finally came to her, but in her solitude and her madness she came up with something that could change it all. What if she could go back to where it all began and change the course of the war? What if she could end it before it spread past Pegasus, before the Wraith made it to Earth? What if she could save all the lives she'd taken and even more?

She spent years researching both Janus' and Ba'al's time machines and anything else she could get her hands on. She plotted out the perfect destination in time to arrive and alter. She went over millions of scenarios and strategies. She worked out the math over and over until she was absolutely certain. And then there was nothing left to do but change the entire course of human history. She started up her machine, determined to save them all. Determined even more to save him.

/

/

/

Ronon and his men could see the explosion in the sky from the battleground on the surface of Satira. It stopped the entire battle momentarily as all eyes, human and Wraith alike, were drawn to the spectacle above. Ronon didn't know what was going on up on the ships above but he used the opportunity to get the upper hand over his enemy.

He took out five Wraith before anyone knew what he was doing. His men saw this and followed suit. In no time the two dozen drones that had marched on them were defeated and Ronon was left wanting another fight.

There were more explosions in the sky, each bigger than the one before it, and Ronon was becoming more and more worried for his friends. Not long after the hail came, and so with it the news that shook his foundation to the core.

His friends were dead and someone was going to pay for that. This would be the last battle they would ever have to fight against the Wraith, he would make sure of it. He'd go through every single one of them by himself to make it happen if he had to.

He was in a blind rage and he had a planet full of invading Wraith to take his frustrations out on. He killed any and every Wraith that got in his way and ordered all of his men to do the same.

By the time the Hammond arrived to collect his team the village and surrounding areas were strewn with the bodies of the fallen Wraith and still Ronon was not purged of his rage. He was happy when the decision was made for the ship to head back to Atlantis. He hoped there were more Wraith there for him to kill.

/

/

It was a shock to everyone on Atlantis when they received word of the demise of John and Hope Sheppard. After taking onboard the away team the crew of the General Hammond had stared at the debris field through their viewports and monitors for what seemed like hours hoping for some kind of miracle.

They had all seen the explosion. There was no way anyone could have survived that. Even Hope with all her gifts and John Sheppard who seemingly had more than the nine lives of a cat. But there was no miracle coming today. Finally they had no choice but to pack it in and abandon their sector of space, setting a course to rendezvous with the city of Atlantis.

They arrived to find two Wraith Hive ships dead in the water ready to be boarded by several teams of marines and medical transports preparing to head down to the planet's surface to lend aid to the injured. It was all they could do to keep Ronon from commandeering a puddle-jumper and boarding one of the Hives himself to lay waste to who or whatever he found there.

It took several of his own soldiers to practically drag him to the gateroom. Teyla and Rodney unloaded their own cargo of unconscious Wraith and shipped them off to the med labs accompanied by heavily armed guards before they headed after Ronon to the control room of the city with Colonel Carter.

As expected the mood was somber when they walked through the doors. You could feel it in the air. The Colonel was gone and nothing would be the same again. They were in the middle of a war battle, but the entire city was frozen in shock and grief.

Surprisingly, it was Rodney who spoke up first. "Sheppard," he began but stopped with a sudden onslaught of uncharacteristic emotion. He took a moment to collect himself and prepare his next words. "The Sheppards, John and Hope, they gave their lives for this fight. They gave their lives to give us the chance to win this war." He looked around at the faces in the room staring back at him. "I, for one, don't want to let their sacrifice be in vain. I don't want to let my friends down." He looked around the room filled with his friends and colleagues. "What about the rest of you?" he asked.

He received some nods of agreement in return. Mr. Woolsey stepped out of the crowd and onto the center of the floor, patting Rodney on the back as he passed by him. "Dr. McKay is right," he said to the room as he exchanged a solemn look with the man before looking out to the rest of his people. "Now is not the time to feel sorry for ourselves or wallow in our grief. God knows there's plenty of time for that later. But we have to get there first. John and Hope, they gave this fight their all. The best way that we can pay them back is by not giving anything less. We can honor them and everyone else that we have lost these years here in Pegasus by winning, by defeating the Queens and their Hives. By bringing peace back to this galaxy after millennia of war and terror. So let's get back on task, regroup with one of the other teams out there and do it for the Sheppards."

No one moved and the room was still silent until Teyla stepped from Rodney's side and into the center of the room beside Richard Woolsey. "For John and Hope," she cried out, raising her hand into the air.

"For Sheppard," nodded Ronon.

"For Hope," piped in Colonel Carter.

"For John and Hope," said Rodney.

"For the Sheppards," was the cry throughout the room.

/

/

Sheppard came to on the floor of the gateroom in Atlantis. He sat up rubbing his head as he looked around at the familiar yet odd surroundings he found himself in. He had no idea how he had ended up here. The last thing he remembered he had been on the Wraith hive ship, dying from a very large knife embedded in his gut.

"Oh good, you're up," Hope said, and her voice echoed in the emptiness of the large room. He looked to where he thought her voice was coming from and saw her sitting on the steps leading up to the control room. She stood and began making her way down the stairs to his side.

"Where is everyone?" he asked as she helped him to his feet.

"Well that's kind of a tricky question to answer. Time here doesn't quite work the way it did where we came from. In fact, here there is no time. It's all jumbled together, the past, present, future, it's all the same here. The simple answer is they are not here. But I can tell you that the team is safe. They got away from the blast in time."

"Uh huh, but we didn't," he summed up for her. "And don't think that I'm not pissed that you didn't listen to me and get yourself the hell off of that Hive," he said pointing an accusing finger at her. "You didn't have to end up here with me Hope."

"Yes, I did," she answered him simply. "Believe me when I say there was no other place I could have ended up other than right here with you."

He took in her words. He would battle through hell in order to save her, and apparently she would do the same for him. There was no stopping them from eventually ending up in this very spot. If it hadn't been the Hive explosion it would have been some other calamity. From the moment she stepped off of her timeship, they were destined to end up right here.

"So I take it this isn't my Atlantis then," he said looking around a bit more.

Not since first stepping foot through the Stargate and into the city that very first day had he heard the place so quiet, seen it so deserted. Well, there was that other time during the storm and the would-be takeover from Kolya's Genii. But there was something about this place. Something that set it distinctly apart from his home Atlantis. This place was downright creepy by comparison.

"No."

His head snapped to look back at her. "Where are we then?"

Her eyes were staring intently at him, gauging his responses and his body language. "In the space between life and death."

"How did we get here?"

"I didn't have time to get to you and save you, so this," she said gesturing around them. "This is the next best thing. We needed time, so I bought us some."

He turned to her, a vague recollection of an old briefing from Dr. Jackson running in the back of his mind about something similar. "Why here? Why Atlantis?" he asked her. He thought he remembered something about a diner in the reports following the battle on Dakara.

"I may have brought us here but the scenery, that's all you. Everything you see here, down to the last potted plant and scuff on the floor, is a conjuring of your own mind. This is where you feel the safest, the most at home. And this is where you chose to come to answer the ultimate question."

"What question is that?"

"When you know the question, you will know the answer."

He turned on her suddenly then. "Are you really my daughter? Because you're talking in that complicated Ancient way that always frustrates the hell out of me."

"I am part Ancient."

"Yes, well we can thank your mother for that," he said rubbing the back of his head in aggravation. Hope just stared across the distance at him unflinchingly. From experience, he knew there was only one way he was going to get out of this, and it wasn't going to be fast or easy. So he decided for once to give in to his fate. "Okay," he said staring her in the eye. "I give. What do you need me to do?"

"I need you to become more than you are. I need you to let go."

"Let go of what?"  
"Everything you've ever known."

/

/

Zalenka was still in the lab. It had been days of him going over and over the specs from that device of Hope's trying to figure out a way for the information it contained to help their efforts in the war. Rodney had come and gone many times, as well as other staff members, but Zalenka never did. He ate here, slept on the cot in the back at intervals just to stay fresh. He only ever left the labs to shower and then he was right back at work. And now all that work and dedication was about to pay off.

Grabbing his laptop which contained the latest sims he'd been running he headed out of the doors to the labs and started a full out sprint through the city. He didn't stop until he arrived in the control room, almost colliding with Mr. Woolsey on his way up the stairs.

"Mr. Zalenka," Woolsey started upon reentering the control room after following the scientist back up the stairs and inside. "I assume your urgency means that you've found something significant."

"Yes, exactly," Zalenka answered the expedition leader. "For the better part of this last week we've been working non-stop trying to find a way to utilize the information we gleaned from Hope's scanning device."

"The torpedo schematics," Woolsey offered.

"Right," Zalenka nodded setting up his laptop at a free station in the middle of the busy room and taking a seat. "Until now we were unable to come up with a way to detonate the torpedoes within the Hives without also getting our own ships caught inside of the blast radius." As he said this he demonstrated the scenarios with a simulation on his monitor.

"And now?" Richard Woolsey asked over his shoulder. "I'm assuming by your enthusiasm that that is no longer the case."

"You'd be correct in your assumption," he answered and began typing in more commands on his laptop. A new sim began playing on the screen. "I believe this is the solution to end our dilemma," he began.

The men watched the sim play out on the screen and at its completion Richard Woolsey had a new outlook on the future. He turned to the rest of his team in the control room. "Get this out to our other ships. I want this implemented immediately. Mr. Zalenka," he said staring down at the man. "I think you just might have just finally brought peace back to Pegasus."

/

/

"I'm waiting," Hope said to him.

"Yeah, well Kid you're going to be waiting a long time," John said with his head resting lazily against a bulkhead.

"Ah, so I see you were always hard-headed and stubborn and it's not just in your older years."

"Oh no, I'm proud to say I've been this awesome my entire life," he said turning and grinning at her. Hope just stood there across the room shaking her head at him. "I can't do what you're asking" he told her, more serious now. "I never could." And at that she laughed. "What?" he asked. "What's funny?"

"The fact that you believe that. You've always had it in you. But its that stubborn streak of yours that holds you back. It held you back in the Cloister time dilation with Teer just as it's holding you back now."

He avoided eye contact with her. He didn't like where this whole thing was going. He knew what she wanted of him now, but knew that it really wasn't in him to give it to her. He wasn't that guy. He never was and never would be. He didn't like it here. It was too much and yet still not enough. It was the after but he was still stuck in the now.

"What's going on outside of this place?" he asked her, deflecting.

He wanted to know about his people. He was the Colonel, the Sheppard, the protector ever since stepping foot through that very first gate back on Earth. He would always be that man.

"The realm of the living is no longer any concern of yours. You need to focus and look ahead, not behind you."

"How can you say that?" he asked her.

It was as if she didn't know him at all. His people and their well being would always be one of the main driving forces of his character. And she was asking him to change that, to leave them and everything he had ever known behind, to make the conscious choice to do so. But he could never let go, she had to know that. John Sheppard would never let go.

"I need to know if they are safe, Hope," he pleaded. "I should be there fighting with them."

"No. Your battle is here now. And the enemy you face here is far more formidable than the Wraith."

/

/

"Commander, we're receiving a transmission from Atlantis," informed the communications officer onboard the bridge of the Spitfire.

"It's about damned time," Larrin mumbled to herself. "Open it up," she ordered.

She read the information on her screen, watched the accompanying simulation and was momentarily filled with hope for their chances here. The Atlantians had figured out a way for them all to turn the Wraith's own weapons against them. It was a genius play, but she was still being asked to use restraint. She would have laughed if she weren't so frustrated.

"Get this to our pilots and engineering," she ordered. "Atlantis has sent us a little surprise for the Wraith."

/

/

"Why Hope?" John asked her, finally breaking the silence that had filled the air for the past few minutes.

He was sitting on the floor, his back to the wall, head perched back, as she sat casually across the gateroom on the stairs, as if she had all the time in the world to wait him out, until he finally came to the realization that his stubbornness was indeed futile. She sat herself upright and looked to him. "Why what?" she asked in return.

"Why me?" he asked. "What makes me so damned special?"

"After all this time you still don't understand, do you?" At his blank expression she shook her head and pushed herself up off the floor and onto her feet, walking over to crouch down in front of him. "Layna. The connection between the two of you. That's what makes you special. That's why you're important. What the two of you can do together, it's incredible."

"We can't do anything together. She's gone."

She shook her head. "You're wrong. You and my mother were together long enough to change everything. A single year, that was all it took. Long enough to fall in love. Long enough to create life." She looked him in the eye. "Long enough to alter the balance."

He saw it then. Everything she had showed him since her arrival had been to bring him to this point, to get him to see this one thing. He knew now what made him important. She did. Hope. He was important because he was her father.

She was the next step in the evolution of the human race. There was no one else in the universe like her. She possessed all the wisdom of the Ancients, the abilities of the Wraith and the strength, heart and perseverance of the human race. She was potentially the most powerful being that had ever been created, and she was his daughter. He was responsible for her well-being, for her safety. He was responsible for molding her into the great person she had the potential to be. That was why he was important.

"Who are they?" he asked her as he realized they were no longer alone in the gateroom. Slowly the space they were in had been filling up as they talked and now there were a few dozen or so strange, silent faces walking about, not paying them any attention but still inhabiting the space they occupied.

"The Others."

"The Others? You mean the Ascended?"

She nodded her head. "Yes. This is where they exist."

"Right," he said, stretching out the word as he looked around. "Just when I thought I would finally have a bit of peace and quiet."

He stared at them from his vantage point across the room as they moved about the gateroom. They moved about the room with indifference. They moved as if they had a purpose or destination, but none of them seemed to actually go anywhere or really even do anything.

The sight of them only reminded him of his own Atlantis and his people back in the real world. They were in a war and he was here in the relative safety of the in between with the ascended. He would have much rather have been back in the middle of the war with his friends.

"What did you say was happening in Pegasus?" he tried asking her again.

"And now you're just stalling," she accused.

He looked to her deliberately then, his eyes practically staring daggers at her. He was about to let her down, a thing he'd hoped never to do. "It's not happening," he told her bluntly. "No matter what you say or do, I'm not ascending."

/

/

Dr. Jennifer Keller walked back into the holding cells to check the progress of the silver-haired Wraith Queen and was greeted by another Queen with red hair and a male Commander, both now also fully transformed to human form. And soon, if things went according to plan, there would be hundreds more to join them.

All three recently transformed human faces looked curiously towards the door from the viewpoint of their cells to watch her enter. The male, formerly Commander Todd, was the first one to speak.

"Are you the one to thank for these lavish accommodations?" he asked and she cringed a bit as she heard the Wraith Todd in his tone. There were some things even a complete DNA re-sequencing and amnesia just couldn't erase.

"I'm Dr. Keller. I'm here to check on all of you. See how your progressing in your treatments."

"Treatments?" questioned the red-haired woman.

"Yes," Jen nodded, placing her bag down and starting the process of unpacking it. "It really was a terrible outbreak on your planet. You three are the first we've tried this treatment on to combat the infection. I'm just here to monitor your progress and its effectiveness. And what we learn from you guys we're hoping will help us in treating any other survivors we might find."

It was the story that the powers that be had agreed on after she'd blurted out the first thing that had come to mind when confronted by the first Human Queen. It was as close to the truth as they were willing and comfortable with sharing to the former Wraith. They just hoped it would turn out better than the last time they had played a similar hand.

Keeping a safe distance from the charged bars she ran her portable medical scanner over her three subjects. The results were quite pleasing. The Iratus DNA was completely eradicated from their systems. And based on the tests she had run on the first Queen who had been a "guest" of the city for the past several weeks now, the conversion was permanent with no ill-affects other than the amnesia, which was the side affect of the drug that worked very much in their favor.

"Why are we in a cell?" came the male voice looming over her.

"This was the only feasible place in the city to set up a quarantine on such short notice. "We couldn't risk the sickness spreading once you were brought here."

She looked up from her scans to find the male leering at her through the bars of the cell. "I want out of this place," he said. It sounded very much like a threat to her ears. She had always been threatened by Todd. It seemed as a human things were no different.

"That shouldn't be a problem. Your treatments are coming along well enough. With the data we're collecting the three of you should be out of here very soon," she assured them, and as she did the city shook beneath her feet.

"What was that?" asked the red-haired woman.

"I don't know," Jen answered, raising her eyes skyward, as if she would be able to see through the city structure and to the heavens.

A few seconds later one of the armed guards outside of the door walked into the room. "Ma'am," he said, indicating that he had news to share in private.

She walked to him as he stood just inside the door. "What's going on?"' she asked him.

"The Wraith are attacking the city," he told her.

"Are you serious?" she asked him in a worried whisper, hoping that her voice wouldn't carry to the Wraith in the cage.

"Yes ma'am. There are several Hives surrounding Atlantis." As if to stress the importance of his statement the city rocked again as the shield was impacted from several blasts.

"Okay, fine. I'm going to have to get back to Medical. No telling how many injuries this is going to bring to my door." She looked fleetingly back to the cell. "Any idea what I should tell them?" she asked the marine.

He told her what Mr. Woolsey had relayed to him previously and she nodded her head. "Great, well, I'll just go and get my stuff then," she said heading back to the cell and her equipment.

"I demand to know what the hell is going on!" It was Todd again. And the others were getting antsy as well.

"The city is being attacked," she told them. "By the people who spread the virus to your people," she added. "I have to get to my labs." she began packing up her gear. "You'll be safe here. I'll be back as soon as I can." With that she headed out of the doors, leaving behind two scared women and a brooding former Wraith Commander.

/

/

"That's what you're getting at right?" John asked her after her response of stunned silence. "That's why you brought me here. You want me to ascend," he realized. "This is all a part of your plan, to try and save me somehow."

Everything she had done, all to bring him to this point, to save him, and all her efforts were being thwarted because he was just too damned stubborn and pig-headed. She had come here to save him, and he just wouldn't let her. He refused to do the one thing that would save him, the only thing that would save him now.

"Yes," she answered him, eyes closed in exasperation. "I've only ever wanted to save you. Now, the only way is for you to ascend."

"To what end Hope? Why would I want to ascend? So that I can be like the Others? Like them?" he gestured out towards the cavernous room, where the strangers still walked about as if they were completely unaware of their presence, or they just didn't care at all. He was pretty sure it was the latter. "No, I don't want that."

"Fine," she said, giving in. "You don't want that. What do you want then?" He was silent as he looked at her defiantly. "What about Layna then? Is she something that you want?"

"Stop it Hope," he begged of her.

"Because she's here," she said turning on him suddenly and gesturing around them. She kneeled in front of him again. "She's here and you can save her, but only if you're willing to save yourself first."  
"Where is she?" he asked her.

She just shook her head at him. He stood from his place on the floor, a new determination in him. He was going to find her, get her back. Now that he was here, so close to her, and knew who to fight, he wouldn't let them keep her from him any longer. He made a move to leave the gateroom and all eyes in the room that had previously been oblivious to his presence there were on him.

He started towards the entrance and Hope was fast on his heels but their path was quickly blocked by a half dozen of the Others. "Get out of my way," he said practically nose to nose with one of them.

Hope put her hand on his shoulder. "They won't let you get to her," she told him.

"I'm really not seeing how any of them are going to stop me," he countered. They all just stood there, blocking his path, still unmoving and silent. They were the enlightened, the all powerful, the Ancestors, the people who were responsible for the Stargates and the building blocks of civilization on Earth and in that moment he hated them more than anything.

"You think you're enlightened. I disagree. As humans you played God with the universe. You created life across galaxies. You made mistakes like any of us. Hell, you made the Wraith. And for a time you fought them, but then you turned tail and fled and left them to prey on the lives of the inhabitants of Pegasus. You people think you're so much better than we are. That we don't matter. But look at yourselves. You have the power to change everything, to help people, and yet you just stand by and watch as millions and millions of lives are destroyed. Destroyed because of your mistakes. And you punish anyone who thinks any differently than you. But I won't let you do it to her," he declared.

Finally a male voice spoke up from behind them. "Chanis is beyond your reach at the moment," it said and both Hope and John turned towards it to find a man who stood out from the others. He had an air of authority about him and spoke with a conviction that gave John pause.

"I'm here, you're here. This is where you exist. Which means that she is here somewhere too," John said.

"You are here because she brought you here," he responded nodding in Hope's direction. "But your place is not here, you do not belong to this place as Chanis does."

"She doesn't belong here," John yelled.

"Where does she belong? With you? On your plane? In your war? In your bed? She is one of us. She made the conscious choice millennia ago to leave that all behind, to be better. She is an Ascendant. And the only place she belongs is here. She is not meant for your world as evidenced by the mess she has made of it." At that last he was clearly indicating Hope and his disgust was clearly written on his face. "And you being here is not going to change anything for her."

John was really close to punching the guy in the face before he continued. "But it might alter the course of events for your friends," he added, and John couldn't help but to be curious.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"The anomaly might not have told you but you do have another option. We can send you back."

"Wouldn't that go against your rule of non-interference?" he questioned.

"By coming here she has altered events in time. You were not meant to meet your fate for many more years. By sending you back to your people now we would merely be correcting one of several aborations the anomaly has created."

"You'd send me back, just to keep me from her?" he queried.

"No, you have the choice. You can ascend and live here among us with Chanis, or you can go back to your plane without her. But you must choose. Choose between saving her and saving them," Rixton told him.

"That's not a choice," John argued.

"Yes, it is. It's your only choice. You can be with her or with them, not both. You can exist with her in our realm or return to your own."

"I'm not going anywhere without her."

"She has already done enough damage in your mortal realm. We will not allow her to return to inflict more."

"Who are you to keep her here?"

"She is of us. She must abide by ours rules and laws."

"So free will means nothing to you people?"

His question was met by only silence again.

/

/

Lorne walked back into the chamber that was temporarily housing his team onboard the Asgard ship and greeted his waiting men with a telling glance. He'd just come from the bridge where he'd been on a video communication with Atlantis and as usual, things were developing rather rapidly with the Wraith.

"Uh oh," said Ayala as the Major walked in. "I don't like that look."

"What's up?" asked Jefferies. "What'd they say?"

"We've got one more mission guys," he told them.

"I thought we were already on a mission," said Ayala eyeing their surroundings.

"Oh, it gets better," Lorne added. "Grab your gear, let's go. Soin is waiting for us in the hangar bay."

"We're going off-ship?" Jefferies asked.

"Don't worry," Lorne said heading out. "We're not going far."

"Okay, you weren't kidding," Ayala remarked from the cockpit of the cloaked jumper as it sat just meters away from the lead Hive the Asgard ship had been tracking. Perkins was at the conn exhibiting his deft piloting skills. The others were admiring the view and trying not think about their precarious proximity to the deadly ship of their enemy.

"Are they serious?" asked Jefferies. "This is the plan?"

"Buck up," said the Major. "If we follow orders, this should all be over soon."

"Yeah, if it works," said Ayala.

"Yeah," Lorne agreed nonchalantly before standing and starting to move into the back where Soin awaited him. "And it's not like you're the one who has to go up there anyway," he parted with.

"Yeah, well maybe we're just worried about you," he heard Perkins call after him.

"Major Lorne, I trust you're ready for the task at hand, despite appearances," said Soin as a greeting.

Lorne rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I can't wait."

"Am I sensing some apprehension, Major?" Soin asked.

"Good catch there Soin. Okay, so how do I get in this thing?" he asked the Asgard as he moved to handle one of their exoskeletal suits.

"Merely step into them," he instructed. "The technology will do the rest."

Lorne did as instructed and stepped around to the opening of the back of the suit. He eyed the Asgard before stepping into it. "You're sure you don't want to be the one to do this?" he asked.

"I believe the orders were yours."

"Right," Lorne nodded and stepped into the suit, which sealed around him. He moved carefully, testing it out on his body. It felt less like a suit of armor and more like a second skin. He wondered why Rodney disliked it so much. It was kind of amazing.

He watched through the view lens on his helmet as Soin moved across the cockpit to his side grabbing his arm. "This is your control unit," he said and proceeded to demonstrate how to use the controls the Major would need to complete his task.

"What does this one do?" Lorne asked pointing to a tempting red control on the arm piece.

"You won't want to touch that one," Soin said ominously.

"Why not exactly?"

"It initiates the armor's self-destruct."

The Major stood up just a bit straighter. "Yeah, I'll be real sure to avoid that one. Thanks a lot Soin."

The Asgard handed him a tablet-sized device. "We built it according to the specifications sent by Atlantis," he informed. "Of course our version is far more sophisticated."

"Right," Lorne said rolling his eyes as he moved to the back. He did a cursory scan of the compartment to make sure that everything was secured properly. Seeing that everything was in it's place he saluted Soin goodbye as the Asgard stepped into the cockpit and sealed the door shut behind him. He reached to the command pad on his arm and activated the suit's com. "Com check," he tried.

"Reading you loud and clear Major," came Perkins' response through the speakers in his helmet.

"Major Lorne, the command sequence is ready to be transmitted on your command," said Soin.

"Yeah, copy that Soin. Just gotta get past the hard part first."

He moved to the external hatch and after engaging the magnetic locks on his boots he disengaged the safety protocols and opened the airlock. The magnetic boot locks kept him put as the cabin depressurized. A couple of small items that hadn't been secured flew past him and out into the cold of deep space. He was glad it wasn't him as he stared out of the back of the jumper at the massive Hive ship.

"All right guys, I'm heading out," he informed once the pressure was stabilized.

"Copy that," said Ayala as Lorne disengaged the boot locks and used the suit controls to start to navigate himself to the hull of the Hive. "We've got a clear signal from the suit. Soin says you're right on track."

"Yeah, thanks, I was worried for a second there Soin," Lorne said a bit sarcastically as he reached the Hive. "All right, I'm on target. Preparing to hand over our special gift," he informed.

"I think they're really going to like it," said Ayala in his ear.

Lorne moved to get the device Soin gave him and move it into place, attaching it to the outer hull of the Hive ship. He did as Soin showed him and initiated the sequence required to activate it.

"And that should do it. We're up and running. Are you guys getting anything from the Hive?" he asked worried about any sensors the hull might have.

"No activity from the Hive," responded Jefferies. "You're clear."

"Roger that. Making my way back to the jumper. And then we can start the party."

/

/

"Choose," the Other prompted him and all eyes in the grand room were on him.

"No," John said determinedly. He looked from the Other and to his daughter who had been silent throughout the entire exchange, a question in his glance that he didn't have to voice but he did anyway. "Where?"

He heard her answer in his head. "This space, Atlantis, this all just your interpretation of the space between and Chanis... Layna is a prisoner here," she told him. "Where do they keep prisoners on Atlantis?"

With the question he saw the picture clear in his head. He saw Layna through the bars of the cell they were holding her in and he took off without a word toward the Atlantis brig. He didn't care if the Others chased after him or how many were in his way. He would get to her. He wouldn't let them keep her from him any longer.

"John?" Layna questioned as the doors to the holding room slid open and he finally saw her again. "It's really you? You're here?"

"Yeah," he answered moving toward the bars. "I'm getting you out of here."

"No, don't," she yelled as he reached for the bars and was zapped by the invisible forcefield.

"I'm not leaving you here another minute," he told her nursing his tingling hand as he moved to the control panel to try and disengage the field. He tried the control sequence used on his Atlantis but it was useless here. The locks and the forcefield remained in place, keeping her from him still.

"I told you, time and again. They won't let this happen, John," Layna said.

"I don't care what they want or think they can do," he snapped trying more combinations and codes. She smiled at him then. "I don't get the joke," he said when catching her.

"All those times reaching out in your dreams, trying to keep you from this place. It was all useless, all of it. Because of your stubborn determination, the thing I love most about you. We were always going to end up here."

"This isn't the end," he told her, still fighting. He looked behind him. "A little help here," he said to Hope who had entered the room just after him but stayed at the doors unmoving, watching the scene play out in front of her.

She had never seen her mother before, never been able to see her parents together. Looking at the two of them was like magic. Here, in this space, they pulsed with a magnetic aura around them that was unmistakable. Their bodies and hearts called to each other through time and space and dimensions. Her aunt Kala had known all those years ago that this would be. They were powerful together. They had the power to change the evolution of a species in their combined DNA, and that was a threat to the Others.

"You won't ever stop, will you?" Hope asked him.

He paused in his attempts to open the cell and looked to her. "Stop?"

She nodded her head. "Fighting. The Others, ascension, fate, you'll keep fighting it all to the bitter end won't you?" she said, finally realizing.

He nodded his head slowly. "I was born to fight. And I decide my fate. Not the Others."

"But you're forgetting something," she countered. "Something very important."

"Everything important is right here," he declared.

Layna closed her eyes, bracing herself. "What about Hope?" she asked him softly.

He turned quickly to look at her. "This is Hope," he told her.

"No," Hope said from behind him. "Not me. Your daughter."

He turned back to look at her once more. With the grown version of Hope Sheppard at his side for the last few weeks it was easy to forget that she wasn't actually his daughter. She was the daughter of another John Sheppard, a John Sheppard that would never exist now that she had come to alter every event of her past. His daughter was still brand new, a baby sent to the other end of the universe with an incredible future still ahead of her. A future that he would never see now, he realized.

"That baby you left on Earth is still there, waiting for you. So what happens to her? If you stay here or die on that Hive ship what will she become without you?"

"Listen to her John," Layna begged him through the bars.

He hadn't thought about any of that these last few weeks. With the grown Hope here he had been so enamored with how incredible his daughter's future would be that he had forgotten that he still needed to help shape that future for the baby on Earth. He had been so caught up in looking out for the well-being of Lt. Col Hope Sheppard that the precious little baby he had held in his arms and promised to protect with every breath in his body had been neglected by the only parent she had left. And now she would have no one, because he was here.

Hope took a step into the room, drawing nearer to them slowly. "I'm an anomaly to them, a mistake whose creation the Others tried to prevent for millennia. That is why Layna is being punished. My existence is a threat, a disruption to the balance of the universe. They're afraid of what I might do, what I am and what I might become."

He stared at the woman before him, the daughter who had traveled back in time to save him, and couldn't imagine that his baby daughter would turn out any differently than she. Lt. Col. Hope Sheppard was an amazing individual. She had courage and determination and a drive that couldn't be stopped. And she had the biggest heart of anyone in the universe, full of compassion and understanding for all. But without him in her life would that change? And would that change be for the better or to the detriment of his daughter?

"You are the best of any of us," he told her. "Wraith, Ancient, Human, you give us all hope. You could never be anyone but who you are right now."

"But she could," Layna countered.

"But she won't," he argued further.

"Don't you see that that's the issue?" Hope raised her voice. "The knowledge of the Ancients." She made air quotes for the last sentence. "Weapons, creationism, ascension. All of it tucked away in here," she said tapping her temple. "Just waiting to be exploited, misused for greed and war and the conquests of man. All the trivial pursuits of earth and its inhabitants. I have the potential to possibly destroy everything. I could do it. I could do anything. The worst things imaginable, I have the potential to do them, given the right circumstances, the right influences."

"And they fear that," he said, finally understanding. "They fear what we might make of you."

"Exactly. They see and know all the flaws of humanity. And they know how dangerous a being such as me can become cradled in that influence."

"And now, much to their dismay, there are two of her," Layna added.

/

/

Every plan Atlantis had come up with throughout the war had seemed either far-fetched or downright impossible to Ladon. The actions posed and taken by Pegasus' newest inhabitants were those that the Genii would never have imagined or dared to try in their wildest dreams. But most had proved ingenious in the end, which is why Ladon had his men follow the orders that came down from the city without hesitation.

The crew of the traveler ship Anikahn were a bunch of ragtag individuals with no military training and their ship was a patchwork of salvaged Ancient tech scattered throughout the galaxy but somehow it all worked. He'd watched amazed as a teen-aged girl fashioned a device from schematics from Atlantis out of loose parts stripped from the ship and paired it with a drone from the arsenal to launch at the nearest Hive ship.

His people the Genii were all militarily trained from birth. It was ingrained in them, their only means of survival against the Wraith enemy. These Travelers didn't know the first thing about training or procedure, but in certain areas they put the Genii to shame.

In just a few years time the Travelers had gotten further in their endeavors than the Genii had been able to in the last hundred. By salvaging the Ancestor's technology they had been able to achieve space travel, a feat the Genii had tried to achieve for generations. Working closely with the Travelers Ladon had learned a great deal, and he admired them for being everything that he and his people were not.

And now on the bridge with the command team he watched on the viewscreens as the drone carrying what was hopefully their greatest weapon against their enemy was being guided to the Hive off of their port bow. The man piloting the drone brought it to within a hundred meters of the hull, well within transmission range, without the Wraith taking any notice of it.

"Open a channel," Captain Karel ordered his com officer from his command chair. He received a nod when the task was completed. "Hive ship, this is the Traveler ship Anikahn. Stand down now or we will be forced to destroy you," Karel said.

There was a slight pause and then their threat was answered by a torpedo fired at their bow. The ship rumbled with the impact. "I don't think they see us as much of a threat," remarked one of the men on the bridge.

"Yeah, I didn't really see that going anywhere but here anyway," said Ladon.

Karel let loose a pleased grin as he looked to his men. "Well, they can't say we didn't warn them," he said. He nodded to the drone operator. "Send the signal," he ordered.

With a few strokes of some keys on his terminal the order was carried out. The entire bridge watched as the Hive erupted in flames from an explosion originating from within. Ladon couldn't help but to feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Never had he felt so powerful against the Wraith. And as they watched the debris scatter in the void of space, the hails from the other Hives began to come in.

/

/

'There are two of me now.' The words echoed in Hope's head and the cogs of her mind began to turn at hyperspeed. She locked eyes with her mother through the bars of her cell and saw understanding there.

Layna was trapped here in this place as a penance, for falling in love, for creating life. She had sacrificed so much, all for her, the baby she had held in her arms for just a few precious minutes before they took her away from her to this place. Hope could see it all clearly, what she had to do now. It was their only way out. She would pay back her mother's sacrifice with one of her own.

Closing her eyes, she reached out with her mind and connected with Layna's, bringing both of their consciouses to a completely separate plane of her own making. She opened her eyes and fixed her gaze on her mother. She had never gotten the chance to meet her in her own timeline. But she knew her. She knew the kind of person that she was. She knew her heart and mind and story. And she loved her for it all. She loved her for her life. She loved her for her sacrifice. She loved her for everything she was and wanted to be.

"You are everything that I knew you would be," Layna said to her.

"Don't say that. I'm not what you think. I've done things," she argued.

"I know what you've done," Layna said quickly. "I've been here, watching, seeing everything. You are an amazing person Hope. What you did, that wasn't you, it wasn't your heart. I know your heart, because you have his."

She pulled her into an embrace. They could both feel it, the connection was undeniable. Hope took it all in. It was everything she had ever imagined it would be and more. The love of a mother's arms, unbeatable. It was her first and it would probably be her last, but it was everything to her. She had missed her mother her entire life. And she would miss her still. She would miss them both.

"You know what I have to do," Hope said to her.

Layna reluctantly pulled out of the hug, nodding her head slowly. "Yes," she said. She reached across the short distance and grabbed Hope by the arm, making her look her in the eye once more. "But he won't let you," she warned.

"You're going to have to make him," Hope pleaded.

"Make John Sheppard do something he doesn't want? Have you met him?"

"Yeah, stubborn as a mule." Hope smiled a bit at that. "Runs in the family." She moved to pull her mother closer to her. "But you have to make him understand." With that she opened her mind to her mother and showed her everything that she could see. She showed her the future that awaited her daughter if they stayed here. There were so many different possible outcomes, so many different futures. But in every single one of them without John Sheppard there, it wasn't bright for Hope.

"Can you see it?" Hope asked her.

"That can't be," Layna tried to argue.

"But it is." There was a great silence that fell between them as Layna thought on what she had been shown. "You said that I have his heart. But that's because he was there, he molded it, shaped it into a mirror image of his own. If he stays here, or dies on that ship, that won't happen for her. She needs him. So help me," she begged. "Help me save him. Help me save you all."

John took a step back from the cell as the shield powered down and the locks disengaged. A second later the door slid open and Layna fell into his arms. He held her tight, afraid that it might not be real, or that if he let her go they might take her away from him again. He'd missed the feel of her in his arms the most. He had missed her so completely, but with her back in his arms he felt like he could finally breathe again.

He pulled away just slightly, only enough to look down at her face, that beautiful face he'd missed so much. "From the moment I first laid eyes on you I knew you'd be the death of me," he said smiling down on her, so happy to feel the touch of her in his arms once more.

"We're not dead yet," she told him.

He looked to her curiously then. There was no way the Others had released her out of the goodness of their hearts. They were too strict about their rules and seemed hell bent on keeping the two of them apart. "How?" he asked her.

Layna pulled away from him slightly, her eyes moving toward Hope and John's followed. With that look he knew, he knew that she was responsible for this somehow. Time moved differently here, she had told him. She had somehow given them this gift. She had done something out of time, struck some kind of deal with the Others to convince them to release Layna, to let this moment be, let them be together. But he knew that something like this would cost them greatly. What had she sacrificed to save them? Whatever it was he couldn't let her pay it.

"What did you do?" he asked her.

"The only thing I could," she answered. "It was the only way."

"The only way for what?" he asked.

"To save you. This was the only way it could end. The only way they would let it be."

"Hope," he started, but she continued on quickly, cutting him off.

"I made them a deal. The two of you go free. You can return to Atlantis, back to the plane of the living with no more punishment or restrictions from the Others. And in exchange I stay here."

"No," he said simply. It was one word but it was filled with conviction. There was no way he was going to let this happen. There was no way he was going to let the Others continue to pull their strings, to dictate how they existed, in any plane.

"If I am one of them, then I am bound by their rules. The threat they think I pose will be eliminated."

"Not going to happen," John snapped.

"It's already done," she said finally.

"No," John yelled. He looked to the Others that had slowly begun to fill the room surrounding them once again. "You can't have her!"

"John," Layna said, pulling at the hand of his that she still held, trying to draw his attention back to her.

He turned from the Others to look to her. "We can't let her do this," he said. "I'm not letting her."

"It's her choice."

"She doesn't have to choose this!" he practically screamed at her. He turned pleadingly to Hope. "Not to save us," he cried to her.

Hope shook her head sadly at him. "Don't you get it yet?" she cried out. "This is what I came back to do. This was my mission. There must always be a balance. The birth of your daughter upset that balance. But now me being here in this timeline can fix it." She looked to him pointedly, willing him to get what she was trying to do here. "Please understand what I'm doing," she begged of him.

He looked her in her pleading eyes, remembering her words. "There are two of you here now," he said, answering her. "You're their insurance policy," he said, finally understanding.

"Yes. If I stay here, the baby Hope on Earth can live her life as she chooses, free of the rules of the Others. That's what you want for your daughter isn't it? To be free? To choose her own path?"

"Yes," he answered. "But I want that for you too."

"This is my choice. This is the path I'm choosing right now. Because we are the same, should she ever abuse her power, I will be their weapon to stop her. An equal match, balance. But I know that she won't, because she will have you, the two of you."

"But you'll be stuck here," he said. "You'll be their prisoner."

She shook her head once more. "This isn't a prison, just a way of life. I'm binding myself to their rules and choosing to stay here. Where I come from doesn't exist anymore. My timeline disappeared the moment I stepped off of that jumper in the gateroom. I can't go back. And there is only room for one Hope Sheppard on Atlantis."

He looked ready to argue with her again but she moved to him, grabbing him by his free hand. "But don't worry, this isn't the end. I'll see you again. I promise. But for now, I need you to go. Take this chance and leave this place. Go before it's too late."

/

/

"God, how many of them do you think got through?" one of the Marine's on his team asked Ronon.

Ronon checked his pistol, winding it so that it was fully charged. "Don't know, don't care. How ever many there are, I'm going to kill them," he said before heading off down the corridor. His team followed behind him.

Despite Atlantis' threat to destroy the entire Wraith fleet surrounding them they were still taking heavy fire from the enemy above. The city shield had taken a lot of damage, so much so that some sections were failing and darts were finding their way into the city. There were Wraith running wild all over the city. And Ronon was about to have the time of his life rounding them up.

His team engaged a swarm of Wraith in a junction heading to the west pier. He left the Marines firing on the enemy so that he could circle around them and attack from behind. He took out the first one with his pistol. With it set to maximum the Wraith was dead instantly. The distraction bought his team a second and they fired, taking out two more with rapid fire from their P90s. The last one Ronon used his blade on for that extra personal touch, his years on the run from them coming back to him once again.

"Did that feel good?" asked another Marine approaching Ronon as he wiped the Wraith blood off of his blade on his pant leg.

"Yeah," Ronon grunted. "Let's go," he said leading the way.

Teyla was on the other side of the city with her own team of Marines. They had already cleared five Wraith soldiers from the city who had transported down from the darts above. Counting the Wraith they had just left, Ronon and his men had taken out seven, with Ronon personally handling five. But he was sure there were lots more where they came from. There were dozens of darts flying in the air who had made it through the failing shields and more coming. They were really going to have to fix that.

/

"Dr. McKay, what is your current status?" came Richard Woolsey's voice over the com in Rodney's ear.

"Um, kind of in the middle of something right now," Rodney responded as his back hit the wall and he ducked for cover as his Marine escorts turned and fired on the Wraith drones that had just caught up with them.

"As are we," Woolsey said from the control room, and to emphasize his point the city rocked from several blasts from the Hives surrounding them. A few made it past the failing shield. "We're really going to need those new ZPMs to get our shields back up to par."

"Yeah, well I'm working on it," Rodney said, firing off a round with his pistol before scurrying off down the corridor toward the city's power core. Two marines followed him while another two stayed behind to deal with the remaining Wraith.

He cleared the threshold and practically skidded to a halt in front of the power core. The two Marines guarded the door as he worked. He opened the core housing the ZPMs and held his breath as it rose slowly from its case, too slowly given how close the weapons fire from down the hall was drawing to their location. Finally, he could see what the problem was. One of the ZPMs was almost completely depleted.

"Okay, found the problem," Rodney said into his com. "But you're not going to like how I'm going to have to fix it."

"I'm sure," was Woolsey's curt reply.

"The fastest way to switch out the power supply will be to completely drop the shield. Otherwise, I'm going to have to reroute power throughout the entire city which will take some time," he explained.

"Just get it done Dr. McKay," was the order.

"Copy that." He opened up the channel and hailed the chair room. "Carson, the shields are going to drop completely in a minute, so you're going to have to give those Hives hell until I can get them back up."

"How bloody long am I going to have to do that for?" Carson asked from his place in the chair. He was already pulling more than his fair share of the weight keeping the city in one piece against almost a dozen Wraith Hives.

Rodney moved across the room to grab one of the spare ZPMs from a storage compartment. They were lucky they had them to spare now. Not long ago that was far from the case. But Hope had seen to fix that problem for them as well. "I just need you to hold them off for a minute Carson, max."

"Oh, just a minute. Is that all you need," he said sarcastically over the com. His voice was obviously stressed.

"Yeah, maybe less. I tend to work a lot faster under duress," was Rodney's response. "And there's plenty of that going around."

"Duress?" scoffed Carson. "You're under bloody duress?"

"Yeah, yeah, we know, you hate the chair. Get a new line," Rodney said, readying the ZPM to make the transfer. He moved it back to the power core and quickly consulted his tablet as he made the necessary adjustments. "Okay Carson. Power going down in three, two, one." He pulled the dying ZPM, and the lights of the city fluctuated as the shields went down, and the city shook.

/

Teyla had just split up her team when the lights in her section of the city went dark. There was a Wraith near by. She could feel him. She signaled Sergeant Thomas down one corridor and she split off down another. She was nearing the gym where she spent many an hour in training when she heard the Wraith approaching from behind.

She turned on her heels and fired off a few rounds down the corridor. She saw that a few of her bullets struck the Wraith but they didn't slow him down. He charged after her and she turned back to run, ducking into the gym. The Wraith was only a few seconds behind her, charging into the room on a mission to kill. She fired half a clip at him as he attacked her. He snatched the P90 out of her hands, tossing it aside before he lifted her into the air.

He threw her clear across the room and she crashed into the rack of Bantos rods and they rained down around her. Collecting herself, she grabbed a set of rods that had dropped to the floor and stood off against the Wraith. Her P90 was on the other side of the room, behind her Wraith enemy, as was the exit. She was going to have to fight her way out of the room.

She could hear the sound of more gunfire down the hall. Her men seemed to be dealing with their own challenges. The Wraith soldier in front of her was bleeding from the several bullet wounds in his chest, but it looked as if he were still up to the task of taking her on. No doubt he wanted to drain her life to heal his wounds. She had no plans of letting that happen.

He made a move toward her and she ran at him, sliding on her knees at the last minute and using the Bantos rods in her hands to take the Wraith's legs out from under him. In an instant she was back up on her feet, wrapping the rod around the Wraith's neck and applying pressure, cutting off oxygen, trying the difficult task of breaking his neck.

He reached back, grabbing her arms and using his leverage to flip her over his back. She managed to land on her feet instead of her back and turned quickly, smacking him several times in the face with both rods. She jumped in the air, kicking out both feet with all her strength and momentum into her opponent's chest. She landed on her back, skidding to a halt.

The Wraith was down, but not for long. She used the time to scramble for her discarded P90. She grabbed it just in time, turning as the Wraith recovered and was charging at her full speed. She fired the rest of her clip into his face and he fell lifeless inches from her feet.

/

The entire control room was silent as they held their breath, willing the shield to come back up. The seconds ticked by as the city was bombarded by blast after blast, each one seemingly getting closer and closer to the heart of the city. Their systems and panels flickered with the power fluctuations caused by the city running on two of the three required ZPMs. A minute didn't seem like such a long time, but with a Wraith armada overhead, a minute without their shield was a lifetime.

"Dr. McKay?" Woolsey called over the still-open com channel.

He was met by silence. He looked to Chuck at the main terminal with a question.

"Coms aren't affected by the core, sir. The channel is open. He should be hearing us." he told him.

"Dr.-" he started as all the power shut down for a split second before coming back online at maximum efficiency.

The room was busy again as the staff moved to their stations to check the city's systems.

"Sir, we have full power. The shield is engaging," informed Chuck.

"McKay to control," came Rodney's voice over the com finally. "We're back in business. Now I suggest we get the hell out of here."

They had offered the Wraith a peaceful surrender. Instead of accepting their offer they had launched an all out assault on the city. Atlantis had no choice but to use their weapon. With the other teams spread across Pegasus, they had salvaged enough of the Wraith species for them to continue on, even if in a new form. It would have to be enough.

"Good work Dr. McKay," Woolsey said. He turned to the staff in the control room. "Prepare to transmit the signal to all devices in range," he ordered. He hailed Carson. "Dr. Beckett, prepare to engage the STAR drive on my signal."

"Not that bloody thing," he could hear Carson mumble.

"We're going to need a quick exit. This is our only chance," Woolsey tried consoling his staff.

"Any place in particular you'd like to go?" Carson asked.

"Just away from here is fine, nothing fancy this time." He looked to Chuck, ready to give the command that would destroy all the Hives firing at them and end the lives of the countless Wraith they carried. "Transmit now," he ordered.

Chuck's hands moved deftly over the controls. A few seconds ticked by, and then the first Hive exploded. "Carson now," Woolsey screamed as another Hive erupted, followed by another. The last thing you could see over the city of Atlantis before it blinked away was the firework display that was the end of the attacking Hive armada.

/

/

"Unscheduled off-world activation," Chuck alerted from his position at the main terminal in the control tower. In a flash Rodney was right beside him. They waited for an IDC to transmit but nothing came through. "Sir, the gate shield won't engage."

Rodney clicked his earpiece. "Major Lorne, I need teams to the gateroom ASAP," he barked.

From the control room viewport he watched as a dozen armed men marched into the gateroom and surrounded the gate. Still nothing came through the event horizon. Rodney looked to Chuck. The other man shook his head in bafflement. The readings on his monitor were unchanging. There was still no IDC being transmitted and they had no idea why the shield was unresponsive. Without that shield in place Atlantis was practically defenseless against whatever was coming through that gate.

The gate sparked with a glow of energy that spun and spun around the outer chevrons, building and building in intensity until it shot out from the gate and into the center of the gateroom, blinding everyone. Slowly, the light began to fade and in it's place at the center of the room the soldiers could make out the outline of two figures, a man with his arms wrapped around a woman. Major Lorne and his men trained their weapons on them both.

"Oh my God," Rodney breathed as the two figures in the center of the gateroom slowly raised their heads. "That's….."

"Impossible," Chuck breathed, finishing Rodney's thoughts exactly.

Rodney headed out of the control room and down the stairs to the gateroom. Maybe his eyes were playing tricks on him. It couldn't possibly be who he thought he saw. There was no way. Because the two people he saw standing at the center of the gateroom were dead.

John Sheppard stared across the distance at him, his arms wrapped protectively around a tall brunette woman with the most piercing green eyes. Rodney had last seen Sheppard on the Wraith ship with Hope. But that was not who had returned to stand there by his side in the gateroom of Atlantis. Layna. She had come back, just as she had promised she would before she'd slipped away on that Asgard ship, only to ascend into the unknown.

"Rodney," Sheppard said in greeting, the guns trained on him holding him in place in front of the gate.

"What the hell Sheppard," Rodney started in on him, signaling the marines to lower their weapons. "We thought you were dead."

"I was," he responded.

Rodney looked at him for an explanation."Yeah... I'm going to need more than that, pal."

"It's a great story Rodney," John, grabbing Layna by the hand and taking a step closer to his friend. "And I'd love to tell it to you sometime, but right now I'd like to get back to the task of ending this war once and for all." He tried to make his way to the exit.

"The war?" Rodney questioned, stepping in his way. "That ended three weeks ago," he told the couple.

"What?" John asked. He watched as Major Lorne and his men nodded their heads in affirmation. He turned and looked to Layna.

"Time moves differently there," she reiterated for him as explanation.

He turned from her to look back across the room at Rodney. "So I missed it?" he asked.

"Yup, pretty much," Rodney summed up.

"All of it?" he continued, still somewhat confused and a lot disappointed.

There were a few snickers around the room.

"Yeah pal, you missed it all," Rodney confirmed.

"What happened?" John asked.

"We won," offered Lorne. "Thanks to that doohickey of Hope's, we got most of them to surrender by showing them that we could use their own weapons against them." He tilted his head toward the gate. "She coming back too?" he asked them.

Layna and John exchanged a meaningful look between the two of them before Layna turned back to answer Major Lorne's question. "Someday," she said.

"Where the hell were you?" Rodney asked, breaking the moment.

"That is a long story, buddy" John answered.

"I think we need to hear it," Mr. Woolsey's voice traveled to them from across the room as he'd finally arrived. They all turned and watched as he made his way to them. He turned to the marines. "Escort them both to Medical please," he ordered.

"Guess we'll catch up later," was Rodney's parting remark as Major Lorne began leading John and Layna out of the gateroom.

"Count on it," John threw back over his shoulder.


	22. Epilogue

Epilogue

Today was settlement day and John was thrilled. It had been more than a month since he and Layna had returned from the dead. A month in which all John and his men got to do while on duty was babysit the few hundred newly transformed humans currently being hosted by Atlantis. There was the occasional trip through the gate with some science teams to scout for a suitable planet to relocate the former Wraith, but the action of Atlantis and Pegasus had definitely fizzled down to practically nil since the end of the war.

For their first few days back among the living he and Layna had spent their time shuffling back and forth between the conference room debriefing their adventures in the space between and the medical labs undergoing tests to prove that they really were the living, breathing John and Layna Sheppard and not clones or Replicator copies. Hours and hours of banging his head against the wall, answering the same questions over and over again, and the repeated tests almost made John wish he were dead again.

Once all of that was out of the way and Woolsey, the Docs in the city, and the powers that be back on Earth were finally satisfied with their accounts of the Others and Hope and the existence of the other plain, then came the excruciating paperwork involved with bringing two officially declared dead people back to life, which, if you can believe it was actually harder than dying and fighting Ascended beings in the space between in order to get back to the living plain.

But at the end of that very long, very mind-numbing tunnel they were finally able dig themselves out of there was Hope. The couple gated back to Earth the minute they received the go-ahead from the Air Force and the IOA and nearly broke all the rules of the road rushing to David and Emily's house to collect their daughter. There John had a lot more explaining to do with his brother and sister-in-law about how the military had "mistakenly" reported both he and Layna's deaths.

They then spent the next few days being a family together and enjoying each others company. Hope was so different than when John had dropped her off, nearly three times her size. She smiled at him when he lifted her out of her crib that first time and it just melted his heart. She had missed him as much as he had her.

He had already missed so much of her life, he and Layna both had. But holding her safely in his arms, he vowed that he would never miss another second. When Layna took Hope into her arms he saw the tears that came to his wife's eyes and he felt the joy and magic that was a mother and her child. This is what their life was meant to be. This was the gift that Hope had given them.

After finally settling things back on Earth with family and the Air Force they settled into life back on Atlantis. With the Wraith war over, things were pretty slow. The Doctors and scientists under Rodney's supervision were focused on monitoring the remaining Wraith as the Iratus DNA purged from their systems and he and his men were set to guard duty. And they had gone the entire time without incident, and for John, that meant weeks and weeks of boredom.

But today was the day that changed. Today their guests were finally ready to leave. All the Wraith were officially, completely purged. Atlantis teams had scouted locations over the last few weeks in which to settle the new Wraith population. They managed to find a planet with a functioning gate and an abandoned settlement not far off. Any civilization who had lived there were long gone. It was a good enough place for the Wraith to claim as their own and start over.

Rodney and his teams had scavenged and salvaged integral pieces of their culture and tech, taking care to remove anything that might plant any seeds of doubt in the Wraiths minds about their plague cover story. They took great care to insure that nothing might lead the survivors down the same path Todd had taken two years ago or Michael before him and undo all of Atlantis' work by reintegrating the Iratus DNA back into their systems. Anything not scavenged for this purpose or for research were being destroyed by their new Asgard friends.

Members of the expedition had spent weeks preparing the village for this day, integrating the tech and loading food and medical supplies. But the day was finally here. The settlement was ready and it was time to finally unload Atlantis' guests. John was over the moon at a chance to possibly liven things up.

"You ready to say goodbye to your friend Todd," Ronon asked John as he caught up with him in the corridor on his way to the jumper bay.

"I was ready the day I met him for that, and he is not what I'd define as a friend."

"Admit it, you're going to miss him."

"Not even a a little bit," John answered. "How is it even possible that he's even more of a pain in the ass as a human than he was as a Wraith?" he asked.

"You've met Rodney, right?" Ronon countered as they walked through the doors and into the jumper bay, running smack into Rodney.

"What was that?" Rodney asked, hearing the mention of his name.

The other two men exchanged a quick look between them. "Nothing," John answered, thinking quickly. "We were just hoping you would already be here to meet us. Teyla here yet?"

Rodney nodded his head further in the bay and both John and Ronon's eyes followed. The whole room was busy with activity. Half a dozen teams were loading supplies and "plague survivors" onto Jumpers for transport down to the planet and Teyla was helping, making sure things went off without a hitch.

As the men walked through making their way to their waiting jumper their attention was drawn to a commotion at another ship. "Unhand me," came a familiar voice to John's ears. "I demand to know what is gong on here."

Major Lorne rolled his eyes as he tried to usher the reluctant human into the back of one of the jumper. "As we've told you sir, now that the contagion has been eradicated we're settling what's left of your people on a suitable planet."

"I'm sure you're not even remotely qualified to decide what is suitable for us," he replied as Atlantis Team One passed them by.

John smirked at Major Lorne's dour expression as he pulled Todd into the jumper. He looked pointedly over to Ronon as they made it to Teyla and their waiting jumper. "See, still an asshole," John said.

"Yup," agreed Ronon.

"Did you think that would change?" Rodney asked sarcastically, having missed their earlier conversation, as they climbed up the ramp into the aft section. "You came back from the dead with the same winning personality."

"Thank you."

"It wasn't a compliment," Rodney responded settling into his seat in the cockpit as John started up the ship.

"He knows," Teyla told him, at John's side at the helm and everyone but Rodney chuckled.

/

"You look upset," Teyla observed as she sat down at the table with her friends in the main mess.

"Kinda, yeah," John admitted.

Settlement Day hadn't been all he'd hoped it would be. With the exception of getting off of Atlantis for a few hours it hadn't done much to quell the boredom and monotony of post-war for him. Once they'd landed on the new Wraith planet all the Wraith had gone peacefully into their new dwellings. They'd attended the meetings the Atlantis teams gave on reintegration, they settled in, they thrived. They hadn't made so much as a peep in the last few weeks. Not even Todd had been troublesome since they gated back home. John was very disappointed.

"He's still sore about missing it all," Ronon grinned over his tray as he eyed the other man. He was right. John had missed everything, all the action, and now he was afraid this might be it. Part of what had sustained him through the years here in Atlantis was the constant moving, towards a single goal. And now the goal had been reached. There were no more enemies to fight. What was the soldier in him to do now?

The Genii were rebuilding, mostly above ground this time. Atlantis teams were gating back and forth offering help in supporting them in their efforts. Soon they would be the promising civilization they would have been centuries ago without the dominion of the Wraith.

The Travelers knowledge of space was expanding as fast as their arsenal of salvaged Ancient ships. They were spreading out, exploring the far corners of their dwarf galaxy and beyond. Soon, the entire galaxy would be space-faring due to all their efforts.

The Asgard, after having helped rebuild across Pegasus had gone back to their homeworld and were busy bringing their brethren back from oblivion using Hope's new cloning sequence. They had vowed to restore the great Asgard race to their former glory. One day soon all of the Five Races would be out their, together, protecting the rest of the galaxies. Pegasus was settling.

"Dying, ascending and coming back from the dead wasn't enough for him," Rodney said. "He wanted to single-handedly end the war too."

"I didn't ascend," he told them. "I just spent some time being mentally and emotionally tortured in the space between. Trust me, the ascended are not my kind of people."

"I think you may have a few exceptions to that," Teyla remarked.

"It's a very short list," he answered quickly.

"Dude, half of your list just walked through the door," Ronon informed, spotting over the other man's shoulder Layna at the door of the mess.

"Great," started Rodney. "Maybe she can fix him."

Layna spotted the group and made a beeline toward them. As she reached them she leaned down to kiss John lovingly on the cheek before she sat down beside him, reaching to his tray and grabbing one half of his untouched club sandwich and taking a bite.

"Thanks babe, I was starving," she said around the food in her mouth.

John turned his body towards her, pulling her in closer to him and nuzzling her behind her ear., her long loose hair tickling his face. "Where's Hope?" he asked her.

"Jennifer asked if she could watch her for a couple of hours," she informed.

"My Jennifer?" Rodney asked, nervously. "She asked for your baby?"

"You know any other Jennifer's Rodney?" Ronon grunted smartly.

John looked across the table at the scientist with a knowing smirk. "I told you before. You're in trouble, pal."

"Why is he in trouble?" Teyla asked.

"Because his girlfriend is coming down with baby fever," Ronon answered with a grand smile.

"What's that mean?" Layna asked around another large bite of sandwich still in her mouth. "'Baby fever?'"

"It means that there will probably be a couple of little Rodneys running around the city with Hope and Torren pretty soon," John said answering her, finally grabbing his remaining half of sandwich and taking a bite of his own.

"No offense to Rodney but that sounds terrifying," Layna said, finally swallowing before taking another healthy bite.

"We know," said the rest of the table in unison.

"As always, thanks for the support guys," Rodney cried.

Layna and Teyla shared a laugh at Rodney's expense as John looked around at the people sitting at the table and a funny thought came to mind. "What's that smirk for?" Layna asked him, noticing.

"Just a thought. Everyone at this table has died and come back in some way, shape or form," he told them.

"Yeah, don't remind me," Ronon grunted.

"What is with you?" Layna asked, looking over at her husband. "You've been acting weird lately."

"John misses war," Teyla informed.

"No," John argued. "It's just..." He tossed the remains of his sandwich back down on the plate and sat back a bit from the table. "What do we do now?"

"What do you mean?" Layna asked.

"From the moment we got here we've been fighting off the Wraith. For over six years, but we did that. They're gone. So now what do we do here in Pegasus? What are we?"

"We go back to the original purpose of the expedition," Rodney offered. "We explore."

"I guess," John said, a bit underwhelmed.

"I don't think that's exciting enough for him," Ronon grinned.

"All right," started Layna. "How about this?" she said looking at John but still addresing the rest of the table. "You know that machine in my lab, the one we found in the caves but could never get to work?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, now that I have my memories back, I know what it's for and how to get it to work."

"Wait, what? Really?" asked Rodney intrigued, about the machine and the return of Layna's Ancient memories. He would love to pick her brain about anything and everything.

Layna nodded, turning from John and looking back at the table. "It's the key to the Destiny," she told them.

"What's that?" Ronon asked.

"But the Destiny is lost," Rodney said to Layna, ignoring Ronon's query. "It's millions and millions of light-years away in a galaxy we could never hope to see. We never even reestablished contact with Colonel Young and the rest of the survivors onboard. We don't know if they survived the three year stasis or their condition or that of the ship. We've got nothing."

"We can get it back," she declared. "We can get them all back."

And John knew soon he wouldn't be bored for awhile.


End file.
